Their waters flow westward to meet the Sandy River near the community of Zigzag.

The dramatic topography of the Mississippi Head escarpment dominates the upper Zigzag River, where the 41-mile (66 km) Timberline Trail crosses the Zigzag River and the Paradise Park Loop Trail crosses a tributary.

Seventy-five-foot (23 m) Little Zigzag Falls on the Little Zigzag River is one of the three most popular off-road locations in the Zigzag basin, along with Mirror Lake on the Camp Creek tributary and the area just west of Timberline Lodge under three ski lifts which drains into the largest tributary, Still Creek.

Other than 11,239-foot (3426 m) Mount Hood, the highest point in the Zigzag watershed is 5,045 feet (1,538 m) Devils Peak which has a fire tower now used by overnight hikers.

The northern part of the watershed and the uppermost Zigzag River are in the Mount Hood Wilderness.