It is a tributary of the Canadian River, draining an area of 17,955 square miles (46,500 km2)[5] in a watershed that includes parts of northeastern New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle.

It flows generally eastward and southeastward, through Woodward, Major, Dewey, Blaine, Canadian, Oklahoma, Lincoln, Pottawatomie, Seminole, Hughes, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, and McIntosh counties, through the cities and towns of Woodward, Oklahoma City, and Shawnee.

[7] This portion has several locks that have created a series of small lakes in which rowing, kayaking, and canoeing regattas take place (hosted by the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation, Chesapeake Boat House,[8] and Oklahoma City University).

The U.S. federal government used that definition from 1914 to 1970: A 1914 decision by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (USBGN) defined the North Canadian River as including both the Beaver River and Corrumpa Creek as part of its course.

This is reflected by the poem "Song of the Oktahutche" by Muscogee writer Alexander Posey, which later gave its name to the first complete collection of his work.