The Patía River begins in the Department of Cauca south of the city of Popayán near the town of Timbío.

[citation needed] The Patía river flows westward from the Central massif of Colombia, cuts through the Western Cordillera and drains into the Pacific Ocean.

The central section of the river flows through the Patía Valley dry forests ecoregion.

The lower section to the west of the Western Cordillera flows through the Chocó jungles of the Pacific region.

[1] An 1853 watercolor by Manuel María Paz shows a mestizo or indigenous family on horseback herding cattle in a field near the Patía River.