Of the rest of the land, 2.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (21.9%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

[4] The municipality is located on a terrace on the south-west slope of the Stanserhorn and Arvigrat mountains in the Sarneraatal and Melchtal valleys.

It consists of the village of Kerns with the sections of Dorf, Siebeneich, Wisserlen, Halten and Dietried, the hamlets of Sankt Niklausen and Melchtal as well as the resort of Melchsee-Frutt.

[7] The historical population is given in the following table:[3][7] The main sights of Kerns are: chapel St. Niklausen, an old bridge (Hohe Brücke), and the pilgrimage church Melchtal.

The ski area and mountain resort Melchsee-Frutt with the lake Melchsee is also part of the municipality of Kerns.