The boat was wrecked near Green Point and Preston and his crew were forced to make the first land journey from Albany to Fremantle, along the coast.

[6] The river rises in the Tone State Forest west of Strachan, 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-east of Manjimup.

From the confluence of the Tone and Perup Rivers (at Murtinup) it flows 137 kilometres (85 mi) in a south-westerly direction crossing the South Western Highway and then through the Warren State Forest, the Greater Hawke and D'Entrecasteaux National Parks and the Dombakup Nature Reserve, finally discharging into the Southern Ocean near Coolyarbup.

The Wilgarup, Dombakup and Lefroy sub-catchments were initially cleared around 1925 as part of the Group Settlement Scheme.

Extensive clearing in the 1950s and 1960s resulted in a significant increase in stream salinity, with water quality no longer considered fresh.