The headwaters of the river rise in the Harding Range and flow in a north-westerly direction before discharging into the Sale River, of which it is a tributary.
The river was named the Berckelman on 13 June 1865 by Trevarton Charles Sholl while on an exploratory expedition from the short-lived Camden Harbour settlement (in Camden Sound).[2][3] Sholl named the river after his mother, Mary Ann Sholl, née Berckelman (1822–1889).[4]