It is a tributary of the Kawarau River, which in turn feeds into the Clutha.

A very small amount of gold was discovered by Jack Tewa in the Arrow River in August 1862.

[1] In early October much larger finds were made by John McGregor and Peter Stewart of the McGregor and Low party and by William Fox.

The scene where Arwen challenged the Nazgûl while rushing Frodo to Rivendell was shot at this location for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

The river was originally called Haehaenui, meaning big scratches, by Māori who used to visit this area during summer for the hunting of weka (a native bird) and as a route to the West Coast to gather pounamu (greenstone).