Powell Valley

Powell Valley is a picturesque location, with an overlook accessible from the Northbound lanes of U.S. Route 23.

A number of homes, farms, and a church are located in the valley below the overlook.

Within only 0.8 mile the vertical elevation changes by 2,000 feet (610 meters) ) across the northern face of the Grindstone Ridge Dome of the High Knob Massif, to mark one of the greatest short-distance vertical elevation changes in the southern Appalachians (the greatest found west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia ).

Majestic Powell Valley is part of the High Knob Landform, lying literally amid its heart and eroded core, and is a true geologic wonder.

The Virginia longhunter, explorer and later Revolutionary War general Joseph Martin was instrumental in opening up Powell Valley to settlement from the east.