The river is the third largest river draining the southern Ontario land mass by average annual flow.

[1] It rises in the highlands of Algonquin Park and flows southwest through a number of lakes including which empty into Georgian Bay south of Parry Sound by way of the Moon and Musquash Rivers.

Tributaries include the: Communities on the river include: The name "Muskoka" comes from the name of a chief of the Ojibwa in this region, "Mesqua Ukee" (Miskwaa-aki: Red Earth).

There is also a Muskoka River in Nancy Drew's fictional home town of River Heights, located somewhere in the Midwestern United States.

This article related to a river in Ontario, Canada is a stub.