[4] The river flows generally south past Eidsvold and Mundubbera before heading east, adjacent to the townships of Gayndah and Wallaville before entering the city of Bundaberg.

The Nogo River rises in the hills north-west of Monto, is dammed west of Abercorn to form Wuruma Lake, and flows south-east to join the Burnett near Ceratodus.

Barambah Creek rises in the hills between Kingaroy and the Sunshine Coast, north of Jimna and flows in a generally northerly direction, it flows just below the dam wall of Lake Barambah, also known as Bjelke-Petersen Dam, before meeting the Burnett River north-east of Gayndah near Ban Ban Springs.

Named after the old gold mining township of Paradise, which is now submerged under the waters of the reservoir, all of the structures and artefacts found at the site were transferred to the nearby town of Biggenden.

The longest-lived known individual known for the Queensland lungfish, a male nicknamed "Granddad", was born and captured in the Burnett River before being transported to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Illinois in 1933, where he lived to the estimated age of 109 years old before he died of natural causes in 2017.