The river takes its source at an altitude of 1,413 m near the eastern foothills of the summit of Bich (1,449 m) in the mountain range of Sredna Gora.

Following the Koprivshtitsa Railway Station, the river turns west-southwest and enters the Zlatitsa–Pirdop Valley, where its flows through its southern areas.

At the village of Kalugerovo the Topolnitsa enters the Upper Thracian Plain, where the riverbed is corrected with protective dikes.

There are 11 settlements along its course: the town of Koprivshtitsa and the villages of Dushantsi, Petrich, Muhovo, Poibrene, Lesichovo, Kalugerovo, Dinkata, Pamidovo, Yunatsite and Dragor.

[3] Its waters are utilised for irrigation in the Zlatitsa–Pirdop Valley and the Upper Thracian Plain, via the reservoirs of Dushantsi, Zhekov Vir and Topolnitsa.