It flows from its source in the Waskesiu Hills in Prince Albert National Park to the North Saskatchewan River,[2] just west of the city of Prince Albert.

The Sturgeon River begins at a small lake named Antoine Lake[3] in the Nimrod Hills[4] range of the Waskesiu Hills[5] in Prince Albert National Park.

[6] From the lake, the river heads west through muskeg, boreal forests, and glacier carved valleys to the western boundary of Prince Albert National Park, at which point it turns south following a glacial spillway that was formed at the end of the ice age.

Sturgeon River continues south through the spillway forming the western boundary of the park and the eastern boundaries of the rural municipalities of Big River No.

The river's mouth is west of Prince Albert at Peter Pond Point.