A stocky, large-bodied salamander. Dorsal coloration varies from light brown to blackish brown. The venter is light yellow to orangish red. Upper and lower eyelids are dark. The iris is yellow and the eyes are relatively small. This species has a dry, warty skin, except in mating season when adult males develop a smooth, even slimy, skin. The skin of both males and females is lighter colored during the mating season. Adults are 5.6-8.7 cm snout to vent length (12.5-22 cm total length). Some populations have adults which retain gills (Stebbins 1985; Petranka 1998). Hatchlings are 8-12 mm total length (Stebbins 1951; Riemer 1958). Larvae are pond type with busy gills ande a tail fin which extends foward to the shoulder area. Young larvae have a weak dorsal stripe which becomes diffuse a few weeks after hatching. The color pattern of older larvae is a mottled or reticulate pattern of pigmentation, usually with two rows of light spots on the sides of the body. A dark stripe extends from the nostril to the eye. Populations of T. granulosa in and around Crater Lake, Oregon, are sometimes treated as a distinct subspecies (T. g. mazamae) based on the presence of dark blotching on the venter (Nussbaum and Brodie 1981; Stebbins 1985; Petranka 1998).

Taricha granulosa may be distinguished from T. torosa by the V-shaped pattern of the palatine teeth (compared to Y-shaped), dark lower eyelid, and less protruberant eyes. These species also differ in their defensive posture (see below) (Stebbins 1985).
 

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