THE POWELL COUNTY LAND BRIEF
Land in the
Northern Forested Plateau Escarpment setting.
Powell County has 179 square miles of land in Kentucky. 3 mapped landscape regions meet across Powell County: Northern Forested Plateau Escarpment, Knobs-Lower Scioto Dissected Plateau, Outer Bluegrass.
Rounded wooded hills and intervening valleys form an unglaciated plateau landscape. Valley floors contain much of the region's open land, contrasting with its more forested slopes.
Regional context: Western Allegheny Plateau ↗ · Regional mapping across the county footprint
Where the landscape changes
Powell County intersects 3 mapped regional units. The largest mapped shares are:
- Northern Forested Plateau Escarpment48.5%
- Knobs-Lower Scioto Dissected Plateau28.4%
- Outer Bluegrass23.1%
Interior Plateau in Powell County
Open hills, irregular plains and tablelands are developed on limestone and other sedimentary rocks. Oak-hickory woodland, local prairie and cedar-glade settings contribute to this diverse inland plateau.
Read the regional source ↗Finding your parcel within Powell County
The atlas lists 2 cities, towns, townships, and Census communities associated with Powell County, including Stanton, Clay City. The list includes overlapping geography types and does not divide the county into exclusive service areas.
Powell County by land and water
The Census records 1.16 square miles of water within Powell County, or 0.6% of its total area. That share is close to Powell County’s 0.6%. This is geographic context; waterfront status and usable land must be checked at the parcel.
For scale, Powell County has 78.6 times the land area of nearby Stanton city (2.28 square miles). These areas describe boundaries, not comparable property prices.
The Census boundary meets Clark County, Estill County, Lee County, Menifee County, Montgomery County, Wolfe County within Kentucky. A tract near one of these lines should be matched to the county identifier on its own records.

