At the northern edge of the marshes it flows east, twisting between a series of small lakes into west-central Manitoba to The Pas, where it is joined from the southwest by the Carrot and Pasquia Rivers.

The river and its tributaries provided an important route of transportation for First Nations and early European trappers.

[7] In 2019, James Smith Cree Nation began developing the project with AECOM and Tesla Energy.

[8] The river, labelled as the "Kish-stock-ewen" is identified on a Hudson's Bay Company map of 1760, produced from oral information from a First Nations man named Attickasish who had been Anthony Henday's guide.

[9][10] The Saskatchewan River and its two major tributaries formed an important transportation route during the precontact, fur trade, and early settlement periods in the Canadian West.

First Nations inhabiting the area of the rivers included at one time or another the Atsina, Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot Confederacy, Assiniboine, and Sioux.

Riverboats were introduced from the Red River of the North in the 19th century and remained an important means of transportation until the 1890s and the coming of railways to the area.

By far the most important post was Cumberland House which was the depot for the route northwest to the rich Athabasca country.

North Saskatchewan is the northern-most major river of the western prairies that flows into the Hudson Bay.

Fish species include: walleye, sauger, yellow perch, northern pike, lake whitefish, mooneye, goldeye, white sucker, longnose sucker, shorthead redhorse, burbot, rainbow trout, brown trout, and lake sturgeon.