The rock squirrel lives among rocky sites and burrows, eating plant foods and small animals that vary with the season.
The coat is mottled, grayish brown toward the front of the back and grayish black behind; the underside ranges from buff-white to pinkish. Coat color varies between and within populations and subspecies.
It is active by day and may carry nuts in its cheek pouches to bury outside its burrow. Winter torpor occurs across much of the range, while populations at the far southern edge may stay active year-round.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.