The shape of the county: sinkholes, an escarpment, and a river

Meade County covers 325 square miles — 305 of land and 19 of water, meaning water is nearly six percent of the county.

The Ohio River forms the entire northern boundary, and the far side is Indiana. Inland, much of the county is karst: limestone country where rainwater dissolves the rock from beneath and the surface collapses into sinkholes. That is why creeks here run underground and reappear elsewhere, and why springs matter so much locally.

The Dripping Springs Escarpment separates a northwestern plateau from the karst plain behind it. Otter Creek drains the northeast toward the Ohio.