The river's most inland point is only 15 miles (24 km) from the coast, and its highest elevation is about 1,570 feet (480 m) above sea level.

There is a large estuary at the mouth of the river, and tidal waters travel up to 5 miles (8 km) upstream.

[4] Construction of the Albion River Railroad began in 1885 to bring logs downstream to the sawmill.

By 1905, the railway extended up Railroad Gulch and over Keen's Summit into the Navarro River watershed.

Trains carried lumber to the mouth of the Albion River where it was loaded onto ships bound for San Francisco.

In 2002, Alaska businessmen and former Reagan administration Interior Department official Ric Davidge announced plans to collect water from the Albion and Gualala rivers in large bags and tow it several hundred miles south to San Diego as drinking water.

[10][11] The governor later signed a law declaring the two rivers as recreational areas, preventing similar attempts at exploiting their resources.