The river originates in central Kansas in the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains.[3][4] Its source lies in extreme south-central Ellsworth County immediately north of Geneseo, Kansas.[4][5] From there, the river flows generally south-southeast along the border between the Arkansas River Lowlands to the southwest and the McPherson Lowlands to the northeast.[4] It joins the Arkansas River immediately northwest of downtown Wichita, Kansas.[4][6]
^ abU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National MapArchived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed March 29, 2011