From here it flows south-west past Quairading, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) before discharging into the Yenyening Lakes northeast of Brookton.

Its southern, Lockhart tributaries arise in the vicinity of Lake Grace, Newdegate and Lake King, whilst its Yilgarn tributaries arise north and east of Southern Cross, and near Merredin and Kellerberrin.

The system has a very low gradient, estimated at around 30 centimetres fall per kilometre.

In many places it is essentially flat, and in these places it forms relatively large salt-lakes that hold large amounts of water before eventually filling and overflowing.

Thus the Salt River does not flow all at once, other than during periods of prolonged or extreme rainfall.