Its headwaters are in Nitmiluk National Park, it flows through the town of Katherine, and is a major tributary of the Daly River.

The first European to see and name the river was the Scottish explorer John McDouall Stuart on 4 July 1862, who named it Katherine after Catherine Chambers, the second daughter of expedition sponsor, the pastoralist James Chambers.

In late January 1998, heavy rain associated with Cyclone Les raised the level of the river by more than 20 metres and flooded a large part of Katherine town.

[2] A more recent flood on 6 April 2006 caused a state of emergency to be declared.

During this event the river peaked at a height of just below 19 metres at the Katherine bridge on the Stuart Highway.