Effective wildlife management requires an understanding of how site, patch, and landscape-scale habitat features interact to shape the distribution and abundance of species. Diverse forest management practices and disturbance events within the Sierra Nevada, California have created a spatially complex landscape where multiscale processes and patch dynamics play a central role in species interactions. In this system, the dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes) serves as an important prey species for many forest predators, including California spotted owls (Strix occidentalis occidentalis). While site-level features used by woodrats have been previously investigated, the significance of patch dynamics and landscape composition have received considerably less attention. We live-trapped woodrats and modeled occupancy relative to habitat features at all three spatial scales, including a number of a priori interactions. Occupancy probability increased with understory cover and hardwoods, although the relative importance of each was greater within mature forest. Further, occupancy was greatest in patches of younger forest and, within mature forest, increased with proximity to younger forest. Our findings highlight the benefits of multiscale approaches and demonstrate that promoting landscape heterogeneity, as well as resource availability and protective cover, may benefit woodrat populations and enhance spotted owl conservation in Sierra Nevada forests.