The Rocky River rises on the slopes of Jakes Mountain, a 2,204-foot (672 m) summit north of the Cagle community atop the Cumberland Plateau in Sequatchie County.

Just below its source, the stream enters its Studer Lake impoundment as it flows northward through a rugged area of abandoned surface mines.

After passing under Bone Cave Road and U.S. Highway 70, the river flows just east of the Rock Island community as it enters the slack waters of Great Falls Lake.

[8] During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Higgenbotham's Trace (or Rainey's Turnpike), a major road connecting McMinnville with the Sequatchie Valley, crossed the Rocky River near Pleasant Hill Cemetery, just north of Van Buren-Sequatchie county line.

While the procession camped at the Rocky River, the Cherokee leader Junaluska and several supporters deserted and attempted to return to the east.

[7] The Rocky River Crossing and the adjacent roadbed, which look much as they did 170 years ago, have since been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

[11][12] Restoration efforts have focused on the erection of livestock exclusion fences to create a reforested riparian zone along the river,[13] and backfilling and revegetating abandoned surface mines.