With headwaters near Tunnack, it flows through the Coal River Valley and the town of Richmond, and empties into Pitt Water.

[1] In Richmond, the river is crossed by the historically significant Richmond Bridge, the oldest bridge built in Australia that is still in use.

[2] Under the Nature Conservation Act of 2002 a part of Pitt Water was declared a nature reserve.

[3] The reserve is partially contained within the Pitt Water-Orielton Lagoon Ramsar Site, which, in 1983, was listed as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention.

The reserve is the habitat of migratory and resident birds, is a nursery of marine life and is an important estuarine ecosystem, and includes many unique species.