[1] About 9 km (5.6 mi) and 41 m (135 ft) up from Supper Cove in Dusky Sound is Lake Maree.

The river rises about another 20 km (12 mi) to the north, on the slopes of the Black Giants, at about 1,300 m (4,300 ft).

The river was first mapped in 1896 by Thomas Mackenzie, who was briefly Prime Minister in 1912.

[7] Carbon dating of beech tree stumps in Lake Maree indicate it was formed when a large rock fall dammed the river during the 1826 earthquake.

He said that there were also ribbon-wood, panax, mikimiki, pepper-tree, mokomoko, tutu, ferns and mosses.