It extends for a length of 70 kilometres (43 mi) and drops 297 metres (974 ft) in height from its source in the mountains of Girringun National Park to its mouth on the Queensland coast.

It is named after John Murray, who was an officer in the paramilitary Native Police force.

The first British surveyors in the area found that the central parts of the river were surrounded by open grassed plains instead of the thick tropical rainforest which was typical of the lowlands in the region.

This facilitated the relatively straightforward cultivation of sugar crops in the area, the rich soil being available without having to clear any forest.

In 1866, capitalist agriculturalist John Ewen Davidson was the first colonist to plant sugar on these plains located around the Murray River.