In its upper reaches the Nora flows fast among pebbles and boulders in a roughly SW direction across the Amur-Zeya Plateau.

Then in its lower course it bends southwards entering a floodplain and flowing among a very marshy area dotted with lakes.

[1][4] Finally it meets the Selemdzha upstream from the mouth of the Orlovka (Mamyn), 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the village of Norsk, Selemdzhinsky District.

[1][5] Owing to the proximity of mountain ranges the Nora river basin is affected by heavy snowfall in the winter.

[1] The main tributaries of the Nora are the Dugda, the longest one, from the right, and the Meun (Mevon) and Egor from the left.