It is 52 kilometres (32 mi) long and is one of the four major drainage systems of the Palatinate Forest along with the Speyerbach, Lauter and Schwarzbach.

It then flows past Annweiler am Trifels, where it meets its second largest tributary, the Eisbach, which begins at the confluence of Eußerbach and Dernbach.

Here it reaches the open plains of the Upper Rhine valley, after about 30 kilometres (19 mi), and takes up the Birnbach [de; eo; zh] from the right.

At the Ottersheim weir some of the water is diverted into the right distributary Spiegelbach, which flows south-east via Bellheim to Sondernheim.

The main branch of the Queich flows north-east and reaches the Rhine in the northern part of the city of Germersheim.

However, timber rafting required an adequate water flow; splash dams were constructed to ensure this.

However, many traces of this oldest artificial waterway in Germany remain, for example the locks, with which the river water was diverted into the canal.

[2] Recent research results suggest that the lower reaches of the Queich near Zeiskam were shifted to the north by about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) at some time in the past, perhaps already in the Middle Ages.