The river is 43.9 miles (70.7 km) long,[1] with its source being in central Douglas County near Upper St. Croix Lake.

It flows through the Brule River State Forest, and drains into Lake Superior.

It was the site of the 1842 Battle of the Brule between the La Pointe Band of Ojibwe and a group of Dakota Sioux.

In 1928, United States President Calvin Coolidge maintained a summer residence, known as the "Summer White House", at the Cedar Island Lodge, located on the upper Bois Brule River.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has a fish hatchery and a ranger station that operates the state forest and nearby campgrounds.