Primarily a California species, Jeffrey pine ranges north through the Klamath Mountains into southwestern Oregon, across the Sierra Nevada into western Nevada, and south in the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges into northern Baja California. This distribution is intimately linked with climatic and elevational factors. It's elevation range is wide, but it is most commonly found on sites that are at high elevation and both too cold to support Ponderosa Pine and too dry to support other more water demanding conifers. However, it is more water demanding than pinyon and more cold sensitive than the lodgepole, whitebark, and foxtail pine zones that it exists between, depending on which side of the Sierra Crest you are on. It closely resembles Ponderosa Pine, and occasionally mixes with it. It is easy to distinguish from Ponderosa by its larger cones (5 to 15 inches in length). This is the large yellow pine found in the Whitney Portal area, and the eastern Sierra Nevada.

Source: The USDA Forest Service's Silvicultural Manual
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_1/pinus/jeffreyi.htm