The river bends southward west of Medford, and gradually begins to widen from additional, accumulative flows of numerous feeder streams. From its source, the river begins as a narrow stream, meandering westward through a dense northern hardwood-conifer forest.
Begining at the outlet of Black Lake near the small village of Chelsea in Taylor County, the Black River flows for nearly 200 miles before emptying into the Mississippi River near Onalaska.
