The river rises at the northern end of the Gregory Range and flows west to the north but roughly parallel with the Gulf Developmental Road until discharging into the Norman River of which it is a tributary near the town of Normanton.

It flows thorough many temporary and permanent waterholes through the journey including Rope Hole.

[3] The river is named after William Carron, second in command of the Edmund Kennedy expedition in 1848.

[1][4] Carron was the expedition botanist and one of the three survivors of the venture.

[5] In 1872 the Carron and Norman Rivers were all in full flood with 14.5 inches (368 mm) of rain falling over the course of two days.