Formed by the confluence of the Dobson and Newton Creeks, the river rises below Lake Newton on the western slopes of the Tyndall Range, northwest of Mount Tyndall, part of the West Coast Range of Tasmania.

[2][3] Its upper reaches were some of the last sites of dam making by the Hydro Tasmania in its long history of regulating flow of Tasmanian rivers.

[4] The river basin is adjacent to the West Coast Range and the Lake Margaret areas, argued as having up to four separate periods of glaciation.

A former bridge that carried the Strahan-Zeehan Railway, very close to the coast and Ocean Beach, has since been demolished.

During October and November, the Henty River is a location for sea run trout.