The river starts in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range and passes through the state capital, Santa Fe providing approximately 40% of the city's water supply.

The tributary meandered along what is now Water Street to join the Santa Fe River in the area where the Santuario de Guadalupe is located.

The paraje on the Camino Real before Santa Fe was in La Cienega, at what is now El Rancho de las Golondrinas.

The work through this section includes extensive rehabilitation of the riverbed, significant erosion protection structures, and the addition of hundreds of cottonwood saplings and willows along the entire 1.3 mi stretch.

The other extends north and west from Agua Fria and Dominguez Lane toward the Municipal Recreation Center on Caja del Rio Rd.