The Hatchie River is a major watercourse of southwestern Tennessee. It is of considerable geographic, cultural, and historic significance. In large measure this is due to the fact that it is the only major stream of West Tennessee that has never been impounded, channelized, or otherwise modified by human activity to any major degree, although several of its tributaries have. Its environs are indicative of what much of West Tennessee must have resembled prior to the time of white settlement in early 19th century.

The Hatchie actually rises in northern Mississippi and crosses into Hardeman County, Tennessee near the community of Pocahontas . After a short jog into adjoining McNairy County, Tennessee, the Hatchie flows north, in a very roundabout, sinuous way, then turns northwest toward the Hardeman County seat of Bolivar. While there is usually a discernable main channel, the Hatchie at this point is largely a zone of wetlands approximately one mile (1.6 km) wide. Supposedly Bolivar was the head of navigation for small, shallow draught steamboats in the 19th century; their pilots must have had exceptional skill.

From Bolivar, the Hatchie continues generally northwest, crossing into Haywood County and the southwestern corner of Madison County. At this point it enters Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge . The rest of the stream course from this point generally trends west. There is a "bow" to the north in the final part of the stream course, which forms the line between Tipton County and Lauderdale County. The Hatchie enters the Mississippi River just north of the Hatchie Towhead and just south of the Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge . The Hatchie is designated as a "scenic river" under the Tennessee Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

The name "Hatchie River" is in a way a redundancy, as the word "hatchie" means "river" in many Native American languages of the southeast.