The river rises 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of the North West Coastal Highway, between Northampton and Binnu.

It flows in a westerly direction until reaching Broken Anchor Bay on the Indian Ocean 6 kilometres (4 mi) south-east of Port Gregory.

[2] Hutt Lagoon, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the river mouth, is a marginal marine salina.

His crew explored the area, and two mutineers, Wouter Loos and Jan Pelgrom de Bye, appear to have been abandoned here, becoming Australia's first European residents.

The Principality covered an area of 18,500 acres (75 km2) and claimed to be an independent sovereign state that seceded from Australia in 1970 as a result of a dispute over wheat production quotas.