Powell Mountain is a long, narrow ridge in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians stretching about 60 miles from near Norton, Virginia, to near Tazewell, Tennessee. For most of its course, it separates the Clinch River basin from the Powell River basin, creating a marked contrast in the surrounding landscape. Rising mostly between 1,500 and 2,500 feet, with higher summits including Bowling Knob at 3,557 feet, it is broken significantly only by the North Fork Clinch River. The ridge has also shaped regional travel history: an 18th-century explorer gave it its name, and both the Wilderness Road and modern U.S. Route 58 crossed it at important gaps such as Kanes Gap.