Thimbleberry has erect, unarmed canes that grow 0.5-3 m tall. The leaves are alternate, deciduous, soft-fuzzy on both sides, with toothed margins and a 3-7 lobed, maple-leaf outline. The flowers are large (4 cm diameter), white, with 5 petals and many stamens, in clusters of 3-11 at the stem tips. The fruits are red, shallowly-domed raspberries (core stays on plant when fruit is picked) that are edible and often sweet. Thimbleberry grows on roadsides, streambanks, clearings, or in open forest at low to subalpine elevations.