THE WASHINGTON COUNTY LAND BRIEF
Land in the
Southern Limestone/Dolomite Valleys and Low Rolling Hills setting.
Washington County has 561.2 square miles of land in Virginia. 8 mapped landscape regions meet across Washington County: Southern Limestone/Dolomite Valleys and Low Rolling Hills, Southern Shale Valleys, Southern Sandstone Ridges, among others.
Long, roughly parallel ridges and valleys follow folded and faulted rock layers. Limestone valleys, sandstone ridges and other geologic contrasts produce varied terrain and numerous regional springs and caves.
Regional context: Ridge and Valley ↗ · Regional mapping across the county footprint
Where the landscape changes
Washington County intersects 8 mapped regional units. The largest mapped shares are:
- Southern Limestone/Dolomite Valleys and Low Rolling Hills52%
- Southern Shale Valleys20%
- Southern Sandstone Ridges11.6%
- Southern Dissected Ridges and Knobs7.5%
- Southern Sedimentary Ridges6.8%
Blue Ridge in Washington County
Forested ridges, plateaus and high mountains extend through the Blue Ridge. Elevation, rainfall and sheltered coves create marked differences in forest communities across short distances.
Read the regional source ↗Finding your parcel within Washington County
The atlas lists 7 cities, towns, townships, and Census communities associated with Washington County, including Abingdon, Saltville, Meadowview. The list includes overlapping geography types and does not divide the county into exclusive service areas.
Washington County by land and water
The Census records 5.01 square miles of water within Washington County, or 0.9% of its total area. That share is close to Washington County’s 0.9%. This is geographic context; waterfront status and usable land must be checked at the parcel.
For scale, Washington County has 69.8 times the land area of nearby Abingdon town (8.05 square miles). These areas describe boundaries, not comparable property prices.
The Census boundary meets Bristol city, Grayson County, Russell County, Scott County, Smyth County within Virginia. A tract near one of these lines should be matched to the county identifier on its own records.

