The river flows through an area of mixed pine-hardwood and bottomland hardwood forests on the Gulf Coastal Plain.

[3] The Bogue Falaya rises in southwestern Washington Parish and flows generally south-southeastwardly through western St. Tammany Parish, past Covington, where it collects the Abita River.

[2] The name is derived from the Choctaw words bogu, “river,” and falaya, "long.

"[5][6] A portion of the Bogue Falaya in St. Tammany Parish has been designated a "Natural and Scenic River" by the state government of Louisiana.

[3] According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Bogue Falaya has also been known historically as:[7]