The Townsend's pocket gopher is a large pocket gopher. The pelage is dark buffy-gray to sooty gray on the dorsum and a rich buff on the venter; the face, nose and auricular patch are black; the feet are dirty gray; and the chin is white.

This gopher occurs along the Malheur and Owyhee river valleys in Malheur County and in southern Harney County. Townsend's pocket gophers have been found in alkaline soils along the south shore of Harney Lake and in deep fertile soils near Sod House School near the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and in Stergen Meadows in the Pueblo Mountains of Harney County.