We are named after the nearby Powell Buttes which are five rhyolitic buttes where geologic evidence suggests we are part of the Crooked River caldera.  This explains somewhat that hard ground, challenges putting in wells and septic systems and difficulty gardening without soil supplements.  The Powell Buttes are named for members of the Joseph Powell family who were among the first American pioneers to cross the Cascade Range from the Willamette Valley to range their cattle in Central Oregon.

In the summer, Powell Butte is normally dry and warm during the day and cool at night.  Winds are fond of whipping through our area in the late afternoon.  In the winter, the weather is cold, with snow occurring from October through April.  Although the snow is usually measured in inches, there are some years when  we get a couple of feet or more of snow.  Neighbors help neighbors in plowing roads and driveways, which is one of the reasons why it is great to live in Powell Butte!

Our plant life includes western juniper trees, sagebrush, antelope bitterbrush, naturally grown wheatgrass, Idaho fescue, bluegrass and giant-heads clover among others.

We are home to quail, black-capped chickadees, pine siskins, goldfinches, wrens, swallows, meadowlark, bluebirds, robins, doves, and blackbirds. Stellar jays and scrub jays, pinyon jays, northern flickers, magpies and crows also love our high desert.  Our avian predators include the American kestral, hawks, falcons, eagles, owls and turkey vultures.  Birder's are delighted to live here!  You may even notice some little birdhouses perched on fence posts along the roads.

Mammals and reptiles also live here.  Badgers, skunks, racoons, jackrabbits, cottontails, ground squirrels, kangaroo rats and deer mice meander through the countryside and through our properties as do black-tailed deer, coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions, especially around the more mountainous areas.  Common garter snakes, gopher snakes and western rattle snakes, lizards and skinks also share our land.  As always, they were here first, so we humans in Powell Butte must learn to co-exist with these creatures of the wild.