Along its 275 km run through the Indian States of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, it receives its largest tributary - Pench River, a major water source for the metropolis of Nagpur.

[3] The Kanhan rises on the slopes of the hills at the southern edge of the Satpura range to the north of Damua and west of Junnardeo, a town in Madhya Pradesh, India.

The source lacks clear documentation and is not celebrated or considered holy, unlike most other rivers of a similar size.

It then runs along a south & southeastern direction, meandering through the countryside of Chhindwara District where it has been productively harnessed for growing Tur dal and cotton.

Nearly at the end of its course in Madhya Pradesh at Razadi Borgaon, it is joined by Jam River, and for a short distance provides a natural boundary with adjoining state Maharashtra.

Sand mining activities takes place on a large scale on the Kanhan river bed preventing the construction of any major dams .