The county's terrain generally slopes to the west and the south, with its highest point, Mount Peale, at 12,726 feet (3,879 m) above sea level.

The county's western and southern boundaries lie deep within gorges carved by the Colorado and San Juan Rivers.

Tributary canyons, cutting through rock layers of the surrounding deserts, have carved the land up with chasms, cliffs, and plateaus.

In the center of the county is Cedar Mesa, Comb Wash, Natural Bridges, and Hovenweep National Monuments.

The Eastern side of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area / Lake Powell is also in the county.

The county's towns lie primarily on a north-south axis along U.S. routes 191 and 163 from La Sal in the north to Monument Valley in the south.

It supported a Democrat for president in 1896 (William Jennings Bryan), 1916 (Woodrow Wilson), and 1936 (Franklin D. Roosevelt).

The county is more competitive at the state level due to its high Native American population, which leans Democratic.

Two of the three county commissioners, Willie Grayeyes and Kenneth Maryboy, are board members of Utah Diné Bikeyah, which supported the creation of Bears Ears National Monument.

[23] The proposition, spearheaded by Blanding Mayor Joe Lyman, was characterized by opponents as an effort to undermine the Navajo-majority county commission.

[24] Mayor Joe Lyman characterized the proposition as a way to restore representation to Blanding, the county's largest city.

"[25] As of March 2020, efforts were underway to bring municipal water and electrical service to the 29-home Diné (Navajo) community of Westwater, which has existed for decades with neither just outside the city limits of Blanding.