 It flows southwestward through Robbers Cave State Park, then southeastward past Wilburton before turning eastward until it reaches the Poteau River in Le Flore County.Fourche Maline's confluence with the Poteau River is now submerged in Lake Wister, about south of the confluence.The distance from origin to confluence is about  Oklahoma Historian Muriel Wright translated the French name as meaning "treacherous fork" in English.