The Powell River in the United States rises in southwest Virginia and flows into East Tennessee. For much of its length it flows roughly parallel to the Clinch River, into which it flows within the impoundment of the Norris Dam reservoir. It is named for a man called Powell who apparently carved his name into many of the trees of the area while accompanying the exploration party of Dr Thomas Walker in the mid-18th century. His name appeared so frequently on trees in the valley of this river that later explorers and early pioneers came to call the stream "Powell's River" and the valley "Powell's Valley".