Objective Peak-cluster depression is one of the important karst landform types. Exploring the influence of different landscape positions on soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) can provide a reference for further understanding of the hydrological processes in this area.Methods Saturated hydraulic conductivity and the corresponding soil physical and chemical properties of different soil depths on the slope and in the depression were measured. By measuring Ks and soil physical and chemical properties at different soil depths on the slope and in the depression, the distribution characteristics of Ks and the corresponding influencing factors were studied according to variance analysis, regression analysis and path analysis.Results Landscape position and soil depth had a significant influence on Ks distribution (p < 0.05). The influence of landscape position was mainly identified at 0—10 and 20—30 cm soil depths, and the influence of soil depth was primarily occurred found on the slope. The effect of land use on Ks was not significant (p > 0.05). The influence of landscape position on soil particle composition and total phosphorus was not obvious (p > 0.05), but organic carbon, total nitrogen and bulk density changed significantly with landscape position (p < 0.05). For the slope, Ks was significantly positively correlated with silt, sand, organic carbon and total phosphorus (p < 0.05), and significantly negatively correlated with clay and bulk density (p < 0.05). For the depression, there was a significant positive correlation between Ks and bulk density (p < 0.05). Path analysis indicated that bulk density and organic carbon were the primary factors affecting Ks for both the slope and depression. The regression equations of Ks for the slope and depression were established based on multiple stepwise regression, and the variance explanation rates of the influencing factors were 76.2% and 32.6%, respectively.Conclusion The results showed that the difference in geomorphic features had a major impact on the distribution of soil hydrological parameters, and can provide a scientific basis for the study of soil and water processes in small peak-cluster depression watershed of the karst region.