Although pine and hardwood forests dominate the county's 897 square miles, grasses, native legumes, and dense undergrowths of brush and vines also thrive. Among numerous mammalian species, cougars and bears are sometimes sighted in the forests. Only a small section, in the southwestern corner of the county, is prairie. Pine Island and Little Pine Island bayous join Village and Cypress creeks to drain the area into the Neches River, which forms the eastern county line.
Surface soils consist of a sandy loam, and the subsoil is red clay.
Quicksand pits are found within forested areas. The average annual rainfall is fifty-three inches. The growing season lasts 246 days. In addition to timber, oil and gas, sand, gravel, and salt domes are found within the county. Although a small community called Providence developed around 1830 a few miles north of the site of present Kountze, further efforts at colonization did not begin until 1834 and 1835.