Located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada at the edge of the San Joaquin Valley, the town is near the entrance to the national parks of Sequoia and Kings Canyon.

The town's name comes from its location near the junction of the North, Middle, and South Forks of the Kaweah River.

For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Three Rivers as a census-designated place (CDP).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 44.5 square miles (115 km2), all land.

In 1886, a group of utopian socialists founded an intentional community along the upper North Fork of the Kaweah River.

When Congress created Sequoia National Park they lost their timber claims and in 1891 were ordered off the land.

The Burnham and Blick families started a 5,000-acre (20 km2) cattle ranch, La Cuesta, in Three Rivers and built homes there.

Ultimately, these plans were withdrawn when Mineral King was annexed into Sequoia National Park in 1978.

In the 1960s, several local artists held exhibitions in the old Apple House on the North Fork Drive.

Some of these artists included Adrian Green, Gene Gray, Caroll Barnes, Frank Treuting, Jean Caulfeild and Pauline Whitsun.

More than thirty artists are living and working in Three Rivers, including Mona Fox Selph, James Entz, and Aranga Firstman, who all taught at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California.

Other well-known artists are Martha Widmann, Rick Badgley, Jana Botkin, Nikki Crain, Tina St. John, Nadi Spencer and Martin Pugh.

[15] Three Rivers is the location of the Diocese of Fresno's St. Anthony Retreat Center and Santa Teresita Youth Conference Center, and of Riata Ranch International, a world-renowned[citation needed] Western Performance Arts Training Facility and home of the world famous[citation needed] Riata Ranch Cowboy Girls.

Three Rivers was one site of a handful of U.S. boarding schools run by the Hare Krishna movement.