Powell Butte sits near Johnson Creek, a tributary of the Willamette River that sustains native salmon and rainbow trout. It also supports the Powell Butte Nature Park and its associated meadow and forest areas. These habitats are populated by bats, black-tailed mule deer, chipmunks, coyotes, gray foxes, ground squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, ring-necked pheasants, and skunks. Birds of prey are common among the park's open meadows, groves of wild hawthorn and western red cedar trees, and wetlands. Kestrels and red-tailed hawks hunt on top of the butte. There are mixed forests of bigleaf maple and Douglas fir trees on the butte's northern side.