Crepis modocensis is a perennial herb growing an erect stem up to 45 centimeters (18 inches) tall and often lined with long bristles. The woolly and sometimes bristly leaves are dark-veined and edged with blunt and sharp lobes. The longest leaves at the base of the plant reach about 25 centimeters (10 inches) long.
C. modocensis may have hybridized with Crepis atribarba to produce Crepis barbigera, the head size of which is intermediate between its prospective parent species.[4]