This river rises near Pétillat/Lépinas in the commune of Peyrabout, canton d'Ahun in Creuse, at an altitude of 684 m in the Massif de la Courolle. The river retains its fast-flowing character as it crosses the Haute-Vienne, despite its gentler gradients. It crosses the canton of Bessines from east to west. It continues its course, flowing into the Creuse near La Roche-Posay (Vienne), some 20 km east of Châtellerault, after a journey of around 200 km. It then flows into the Vienne and Loire rivers. A quote from Régine Deforges: "There's a corner of Poitou where a river flows which, in turn, takes on the appearance of a torrent, then struts a little further on like a lazy Loire. It's called the Gartempe".
