It has its origins in several small streams flowing from the Hunters Hills, and flows north before turning southeast to reach the Pacific Ocean at the southern end of the township of Pareora, 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of Timaru.

The river ends in a hapua-type river mouth, this means the flow to the ocean is impeded by a gravel bank.

[1] "Place name detail: Pareora River".

A classification of small hapua-type river mouths on the mixed sand and gravel coasts of Canterbury, New Zealand (PDF) (Thesis).

This article about a river in Canterbury, New Zealand is a stub.