[1] The upper reaches of the Sendai and its tributaries is protected as part of Hyōnosen-Ushiroyama-Nagisan Quasi-National Park (488.03 square kilometres (188.43 sq mi)), established in 1969.

[1][4] In its middle reaches the Sendai River emerges from the Chūgoku Mountains and flows northward through the Tottori Plain.

Original construction on the Ōide Canal was carried out in 1600 by the feudal lord Kamei Korenori (亀井武蔵) (1557 – 1612) in order to open arable land in the region.

The Sendai and its canals currently provide irrigation for 7,600 hectares (19,000 acres) of rice paddies in the Tottori Plain.

[4] The lowest reaches and the mouth of the Sendai River are protected as part of Sanin Kaigan National Park (87.83 square kilometres (33.91 sq mi)), and the Tottori Sand Dunes are designated a Natural Monument of Japan.

[2] Lake Koyama (6.9 square kilometres (2.7 sq mi)), a brackish lagoon to the west of the mouth of the Sendai River, was once an inlet of the Sea of Japan.

[9][10][11] The tributaries of the Sendai River emerge from the Chūgoku Mountains and flow through low-lying valleys and tableland in the eastern reaches of Tottori Prefecture.

Fine sand from the sediments of the Sendai is carried back to the shore by currents and tides of the Sea of Japan, and then blown by wind to form the dunes.

Miscanthus sacchariflorus, or Amur silver-grass, is found in the lower reaches of the Sendai where the river has a weaker current.

Celtis jessoensis, the Japanese hackberry, and Aphananthe aspera, the Muku tree, are found along the lowest 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) of the river.

[9] The Sendai River crossed historical Inaba Province, which made up the eastern half of present-day Tottori Prefecture.

[9] Inshū-gami, a type of washi, or Japanese paper, was produced on the Sendai River from the early Edo period (1603 – 1868), and its production was regulated by the Tokugawa shogunate.