The Hurley begins near Mount Thiassi and flows through a marshy upper valley eastwards before turning north just west of the famous gold-mining town of Bralorne.
From that point the river goes over semi-hidden Hurley Falls into the Hurley Canyon, which makes up ten of the last twelve miles of the river before its confluence with the Bridge River near Gold Bridge, just below Lajoie Dam.
An operating placer mine at the outlet of the canyon goes by the name South Fork, alluding to the river's older name.
backroad between Gold Bridge and Pemberton - the Hurley Main.
The route of the Hurley Main uses a defile known as Railroad Pass near the head of that river to emerge high above the Lillooet River, to which a steep, switchbacking descent must be made.