The area of the district is 2,460 square kilometers (950 sq mi).

[3] Parfenyevsky District is located in the center of Kostroma Oblast.

The terrain is flat or slightly hilly, with pine-larch forests (southern taiga) covering 84% of the district, including some old-growth stands of cedars and oak.

Pleistocene glaciation left a landscape of alluvial outwash, moraines, swamps, and lakes.

Historical records suggest that Parfenyevo was founded in 1521 as a fortress in the Kazan line, which protected Moscow from invasion by Tatars and Cheremis (Mari people).