Most of the river and its drainage basin is at the southern edge of the boreal forest belt.

[3] While the river's source is Lac des Îles, its drainage basin reaches north into the Mostoos Hills[4] and west well into the neighbouring province of Alberta.

[6] There are no communities along the river's course, yet there are many amenities related to Meadow Lake Provincial Park and the villages of Dorintosh and Goodsoil nearby.

Beaver continues north and flows into Lac Île-à-la-Crosse, which is a lake along the course of the Churchill River–a major tributary of the Hudson Bay drainage basin.

The park is along Highway 155 in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, near the north-east boundary of the RM of Meadow Lake.