This site is home to Alberta's only population of mountain goats outside the Rocky Mountain Natural Region. These goats are very sensitive to disturbance, especially during the kidding period from May 1 until July 31. Visitation during this period should be limited to minimize stress on newborn kids during their first three months of life. There are moose, white-tailed deer and elk in the area, as well as a variety of foothills bird species. Pinto Creek has eroded a deep canyon through the relatively soft sandstone hills in this area and ongoing stream erosion has maintained a series of steep cliff faces along parts of the valley. These discontinuous cliffs provide ideal habitat for the area's mountain goats. There are also hoodoo formations in the area. The area's cliffs consist of loose sandstone and rocky outcrops surrounded by a forested plateau of lodgepole pine and white spruce. Labrador tea and mosses dominate the understory. On well-drained slopes above the cliffs, grasses such as bluejoint and hairy wild rye grow and shrubs such as buffalo berry and wolf willow are common. Aspen is abundant along the cliff edges and in the steep gullies that separate the cliffs.