It rises near Sugarloaf Mountain, east of Rangeley Lake, and runs for 33.8 miles (54.4 km),[1] flowing southeast past Kingfield and joining the Kennebec River in the town of Anson.

The South Branch Carrabassett River, 11.9 miles (19.2 km) long,[1] begins in Franklin County at Caribou Pond, fed by small brooks and wetlands between Spaulding Mountain to the east and Mount Redington to the west.

[2] The shift to internal combustion transportation began in 1924 when a Carrabassett veneer mill used surplus World War I tanks to move logs out of the woods.

[4] The Carrabassett River flows southward from the confluence of the South Branch with Huston Brook, passing between Poplar Mountain to the east and Owls Head to the west, receiving Poplar Stream and Hammond Field Brook before entering the town of Kingfield.

The river is bridged by State Route 16 and impounded by a small concrete dam in the village of Kingfield.