Laboratory experiments were conducted in a large-scale meandering compound channel to investigate the flow patterns at the apex and cross-over sections. An equation in curvilinear co-ordinates was derived from the momentum equation and the flow continuity equation. In this equation, two shear stress terms are ignored due to their negligible contributions such that simple expressions are obtained. Several groups of experimental data from the published literature were used to verify this model. Comparison of the experimental and predictive results indicates that the proposed method is capable of accurately forecasting the stage discharge in meandering compound channels. Finally, the simple analytical solution of this model and the velocity parameter are further discussed.