It is born in Laguna del Maule in Talca Province, at an altitude of 2,200 mt in the vicinity of the border with Argentina.

The latter flows from the south and receives several tributaries: the Putagán, the Achibueno - Ancoa system, the Perquilauquén, the Purapel and the Cauquenes.

In its lower reaches, the river receives only one modest tributary, the Estero de los Puercos and, after flowing for nearly 250 kilometers, the Maule ends at the Pacific Ocean, north of the city of Constitución.

The number of poets, writers, historians, orators, playwrights, journalists as well as composers and folk musicians that have been born or have settled in the Maule Region, to which "the river of the fogs" has given its name, is quite staggering.

Several anthologies, author's dictionaries and essays have given vivid accounts of the vast cultural wealth of the region around river Maule.