The headwaters rise under Mount Yangee in the Table Range, part of the Great Dividing Range at the northern end of Cape York Peninsula.

The river initially flows south then west past the Sir William Thompson Range then veers north through the mostly uninhabited country.

The river finally discharges into Weymouth Bay and onto the Coral Sea.

[2] The river has a catchment area of 2,124 square kilometres (820 sq mi) of which an area of 33 square kilometres (13 sq mi) is composed of riverine wetlands.

[3] The traditional owners of the area are the Kuuku Ya’u, Kaanju and Umpila people who maintain a strong spiritual connection to the land.