Abstract: The roof movement characteristics of steeply inclined coal seams constitute a key research subject for roof control. The coal seams in the northern mining area of Wudong Coal Mine have an inclination angle of 45°, and the area has been mined by multiple coal mines historically. Significant differences exist in the mining layout along the strike direction, and heterogeneous mining results in more complicated roof movement characteristics. To investigate the roof movement characteristics under heterogeneous mining in steeply inclined coal seams, the working face of the 45° steeply inclined coal seam in the northern area of Wudong Coal Mine was taken as the research object. Based on the overlying rock structures in different mining zones, the mechanical models of cantilever beams and fixed-supported beams under uniformly distributed loads were established. The surface tensile cracking law during coal extraction was statistically analyzed, and multi-point displacement meters and theoretical calculation were adopted to analyze the roof movement features in different regions. The analysis of surface tensile cracking characteristics indicates that the surface tensile cracks of the 45° coal seam in northern Wudong Coal Mine generally present a “semi-elliptical” distribution. In the cantilever beam structural zone, surface tensile cracking gradually intensifies with the expansion of mining scope, and the tensile cracking position shifts from the lagging side to the advancing side of the working face. When approaching the fixed-supported beam structural zone, the tensile cracking transfers from the advancing side back to the lagging side of the working face. Monitoring results from multi-point displacement meters indicate that roof fracturing and caving in the cantilever beam structural zone change from lagging the working face to advancing the working face as mining area expends. After entering the overlying fixed-supported beam structural zone, roof activities shift from the advancing side to the lagging side of the working face, which is consistent with the variation law of surface tensile cracks. Theoretical calculations demonstrate that the tensile stress and shear stress inside the roof with the cantilever beam structure after mining are higher than those of the fixed-supported beam structure. The roof in the cantilever beam zone is more prone to fracture, and the overall roof movement intensity in this zone is relatively greater.