The South Fork of the river rises in rural Wise County, Virginia, near the Laurel Grove community northwest of Norton and flows for several miles before the confluence with Roaring Fork in the Kent Junction community.

[6] The Powell River was designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the "second most biologically diverse aquatic system in the nation.

[7] Lincoln Memorial University operates the Powell River Aquatic Research Station, which is located where Tennessee State Route 63 crosses the river at the Brooks Bridge in Claiborne County, Tennessee.

The center allows for on-site research of water quality, flora, fauna and related habitat.

[8] Fishing in the Powell River can be great in some areas; in Wise County the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources stocks trout in the shallow rushing waters of the Middle Fork under a "delayed harvest" designation.