The Nerang River rises in the McPherson Range in the Numinbah Valley on the New South Wales and Queensland border and heads north, then east where it flows through and reaching its mouth in the Gold Coast Broadwater at on the Gold Coast and emptying into the Coral Sea. The river descends over its course. Major crossings of the river occur at Nerang where the river is crossed by the Pacific Motorway and at Southport where the river is crossed by the Gold Coast Highway.