diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
index c4446b475afcbe..b3bc2862c1f52a 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/cmd/config.py
@@ -71,6 +71,21 @@ def setup_parser(subparser):
 
     sp.add_parser("list", help="list configuration sections")
 
+    list_scopes_parser = sp.add_parser("list-scopes", help="list defined scopes")
+    stype = list_scopes_parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=False)
+    stype.add_argument(
+        "--file",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="list only writable scopes with an associated file"
+    )
+    stype.add_argument(
+        "--non-platform",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="list only non-platform scopes"
+    )
+
     add_parser = sp.add_parser("add", help="add configuration parameters")
     add_parser.add_argument(
         "path",
@@ -196,6 +211,11 @@ def config_list(args):
     print(" ".join(list(spack.config.SECTION_SCHEMAS)))
 
 
+def config_list_scopes(args):
+    scopes = reversed(spack.config.CONFIG.file_scopes) if args.file else spack.config.CONFIG._non_platform_scopes if args.non_platform else reversed(spack.config.CONFIG.scopes.values())
+    print(" ".join([s.name for s in scopes]))
+
+
 def config_add(args):
     """Add the given configuration to the specified config scope
 
@@ -467,6 +487,7 @@ def config(parser, args):
         "blame": config_blame,
         "edit": config_edit,
         "list": config_list,
+        "list-scopes": config_list_scopes,
         "add": config_add,
         "rm": config_remove,
         "remove": config_remove,
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/config.py
index 9c6fb6366e0460..99ff6e11f59984 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/config.py
@@ -446,11 +446,8 @@ def highest_precedence_non_platform_scope(self) -> ConfigScope:
         """Non-internal non-platform scope with highest precedence
 
         Platform-specific scopes are of the form scope/platform"""
-        generator = reversed(self.file_scopes)
-        highest = next(generator)
-        while highest and highest.is_platform_dependent:
-            highest = next(generator)
-        return highest
+        generator = self._non_platform_scopes
+        return next(generator)
 
     def matching_scopes(self, reg_expr) -> List[ConfigScope]:
         """
@@ -700,6 +697,15 @@ def print_section(self, section, blame=False):
         except (syaml.SpackYAMLError, IOError) as e:
             raise ConfigError(f"cannot read '{section}' configuration") from e
 
+    @property
+    def _non_platform_scopes(self):
+        """Returns non-platform scopes, highest priority first."""
+        for s in reversed(self.file_scopes):
+            if s.is_platform_dependent:
+                continue
+            else:
+                yield s
+
 
 @contextmanager
 def override(path_or_scope, value=None):
diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/config.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/config.py
index 4f3d5afe770e0c..3a409003acc378 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/config.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/config.py
@@ -665,3 +665,20 @@ def update_config(data):
 
     with ev.Environment(str(tmpdir)) as e:
         assert not e.manifest.pristine_yaml_content["spack"]["config"]["ccache"]
+
+def test_config_list_scopes():
+    output = config("list-scopes")
+    assert "command_line" in output
+    assert "_builtin" in output
+    assert any("/" in s for s in output)
+
+def test_config_list_scopes_file():
+    output = config("list-scopes", "--file")
+    assert "site" in output
+    assert "_builtin" not in output
+    assert any("/" in s for s in output)
+
+def test_config_list_scopes_non_platform():
+    output = config("list-scopes", "--non-platform")
+    assert "site" in output
+    assert "default" in output