It flows through Lake Ada, where it is joined by Joes River, and is about 20 km (12 mi) long.

[1] Lake Ada was dammed by a landslide about 900 years ago.

[2] Pāteke lived on the river until the mid-1990s, when stoats spread to the valley.

Stoat control, to protect whio, began in 2003 and was extended to the Joes River valley in 2005.

Pāteke were reintroduced from a captive breeding stock in 2009, with further releases in 2010 and 2011.