Covering an area to the South East of the central business district, Campbell sits at the base of Mount Ainslie and is bounded to the south east by the Mount Pleasant Nature Reserve.

Also with addresses in the suburb are the 'Ainslie Village' accommodation centre for people with special needs and the Campbell Park Offices.

[1] Most of Campbell is dominated by the lowest layer of the Ainslie Volcanics, a grey dacite and other erupted particles such as agglomerate and tuff.

In the north east is cream rhyolite from the highest layer of the Ainslie Volcanics.

A layer of the Tertiary age pebbly gravels is around Anzac Parade, left over from when the Molonglo river was at a higher level.