The Tākaka River lies in the northwest of New Zealand's South Island. It runs north for 70 kilometres, entering Golden Bay near the town of Tākaka.

Manawhenua Ki Mohua, an iwi-mandated organisation representing Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Rārua, and Te Āti Awa within Golden Bay / Mohua, and staff from the Tākaka Memorial Library, completed a research project in 2023 confirming the origin of many local Māori place names. They reported that Tākaka was a place name brought out from Tahiti in the 13th century, with an original spelling of Tā'a'a.

The previous explanation of the name was given in the 2010 edition of Place Names of New Zealand as such:

Literally bracken (Pteris esculentum). Either transferred from the Polynesian place name of Tahaʻa, the island next to Raʻiātea, or short for Te Toka-o-Tākaka, 'the stone of Tākaka'. Tākaka was a slave aboard the Kurahaupō canoe who was turned to stone when he searched for greenstone because such work was tapu.

The Tākaka River originates in Kahurangi National Park on the northern side of the Wharepapa / Arthur Range. It is formed by the confluence of Balloon Creek, which flows from the west, and Flora Stream, which joins it from the east-southeast. Flowing northward, the river flows for approximately 57 km (35 mi). About 4.3 km (2.7 mi) north of Tākaka, the river discharges into the bay (Golden Bay / Mohua) that has the same name as the land area, at the northwestern end of the South Island.

It was reported on 17 January 2007 that the Tākaka River is one of a growing number of South Island rivers to have a confirmed case of the invasive river weed didymo.

In July 2020, the name of the river was officially gazetted as Tākaka River by the New Zealand Geographic Board.