Herbert | |
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![]() Blencoe Creek flowing over Blencoe Falls into the Herbert River gorge, 2006 | |
Location of Herbert River river mouth in Queensland | |
Etymology | Robert Herbert [1] |
Location | |
Country | Australia |
State | Queensland |
Region | Far North Queensland, Wet Tropics of Queensland |
City | Ingham |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | Atherton Tableland, Great Dividing Range |
Source confluence | Millstream and Wild River |
• coordinates | 17°41′50″S145°15′49″E / 17.69722°S 145.26361°E |
• elevation | 642 m (2,106 ft) |
Mouth | Coral Sea |
• location | Hinchinbrook Channel |
• coordinates | 18°32′16″S146°17′21″E / 18.53778°S 146.28917°E |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Length | 288 km (179 mi) |
Basin size | 10,130 km2 (3,910 sq mi) [2] |
Discharge | |
• location | Near mouth |
• average | 4,330,000 ML/a (137 m3/s) [2] |
Basin features | |
Tributaries | |
• left | Blunder Creek, Sunday Creek (Queensland), Cameron Creek (Queensland), Blencoe Creek, Smoko Creek, Yamanie Creek, Gowrie Creek, Elphinstone Creek |
• right | Battle Creek (Queensland), Nettle Creek (Queensland), Nanyeta (Return) Creek, Rudd Creek, Flaggy Creek, Stony Creek (Queensland), Stone River |
Waterfalls | Herbert River Falls, Blencoe Falls, Millstream Falls |
[3] |
The Herbert River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The southernmost of Queensland's wet tropics river systems, it was named in 1864 by George Elphinstone Dalrymple explorer, after Robert George Wyndham Herbert, the first Premier of Queensland. [1]
With its headwaters forming at an elevation of 1,070 metres (3,510 ft) on the Atherton Tableland, part of the Great Dividing Range west of Herberton and north of Ravenshoe, the Herbert River is formed by the confluence of the Millstream and the Wild River. The Herbert River flows in a generally southeastern direction through the Lumholtz National Park joined by fifteen tributaries including the Stone River and flowing past the town of Ingham. The Herbert River reaches its mouth where it enters the Coral Sea near Lucinda, at the southern end of the Hinchinbrook Channel, 130 kilometres (81 mi) north of Townsville. The river descends 642 metres (2,106 ft) over its 288-kilometre (179 mi) course. [3]
The Herbert River tributaries include the Blunder, Sunday and Cameron Creeks, which all rise in the Cardwell Range and drain the northern portion of the river's catchment area, upstream of the Herbert River Falls. Further south the catchment is drained by the Nanyeta (Return) and Rudd Creeks, which flow out of the Great Dividing Range west of Mount Garnet and from the Forty Mile Scrub area. In total, the river has a catchment of 10,130 square kilometres (3,910 sq mi). [4]
The Wallaman Falls on Stony Creek, another tributary of the Herbert, are Australia's tallest single-drop waterfall. [5] Other waterfalls on the river include Herbert River Falls, Blencoe Falls and Millstream Falls.
Heavy rainfall causes the river level and speed of flow to rise very quickly, especially in the lower flood plain areas around Ingham where rainfall of up to 600 millimetres (24 in) over a few days may occur during peak wet season. Floodwater up to depths of 3 metres (9.8 ft) above ground level occurs in low parts of the town, requiring the evacuation of residents and their property from low-lying areas. [6] The river experienced significant flooding during the 2010–11 Queensland floods.
Warrgamay (also known as Waragamai, Wargamay, Wargamaygan, Biyay, and Warakamai) is an Australian Aboriginal language in North Queensland. The language region includes the Herbert River area, Ingham, Hawkins Creek, Long Pocket, Herbert Vale, Niagara Vale, Yamanic Creek, Herbert Gorge, Cardwell, Hinchinbrook Island and the adjacent mainland. [7]
Warungu (also known as Warrungu, Warrongo, and Waroongoo.) is an Australian Aboriginal language in North Queensland. The language region includes areas from the Upper Herbert River to Mount Garnet. [8]
The catchment area holds a population of about 18,000, 75% of whom dwell in the lower flood plain area.[ citation needed ]
The river's upper region is used mainly for cattle grazing, while the lower Herbert River floodplain is given over to sugar cane production. [9] The middle reaches of the catchment include National Parks, State Forests and sections of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
Parts of the river, especially the Herbert River Gorge stretch, are used for kayaking and white water rafting. The Herbert River is one of Australia's two finest extended whitewater journeys, the other the Franklin River in Tasmania. [10]
The second season of the U.S. reality television series, Survivor , was filmed on the "Goshen" cattle station in the upper Herbert River region, near the Blencoe Falls and Herbert River Gorge.
The Herbert, together with the Tully and the Burdekin rivers, were part of the proposed Bradfield Scheme to divert the upper reaches of the three rivers west of the Great Dividing Range and into the Thomson River designed to irrigate and drought-proof much of the western Queensland interior, as well as large areas of South Australia. The Scheme was proposed in 1938 and abandoned in 1947. [11] [12] [13]
Barron Gorge National Park is a protected area in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. It is predominantly within the locality of Barron Gorge.
Girringun National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) southwest of Ingham, 110 kilometres (68 mi) north of Townsville and 1,290 kilometres (800 mi) northwest of Brisbane. The park is one of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area series of national parks, and is a gazetted World Heritage Site.
The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upstart Bay over 200 kilometres (124 mi) to the southeast of the source, with a catchment area of approximately 130,000 square kilometres (50,000 sq mi). The Burdekin River is Australia's largest river by (peak) discharge volume.
The Wallaman Falls, a cascade and horsetail waterfall on the Stony Creek, is located in the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Wet Tropics in the locality of Wallaman, Shire of Hinchinbrook in the northern region of Queensland, Australia. The waterfall is notable for its main drop of 268 metres (879 ft), which makes it the country's tallest single-drop waterfall. The pool at the bottom of the waterfall is 20 metres (66 ft) deep. An estimated 100,000 people visit the waterfall annually.
Hinchinbrook Island is an island in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It lies east of Cardwell and north of Lucinda, separated from the north-eastern coast of Queensland by the narrow Hinchinbrook Channel. Hinchinbrook Island is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and wholly protected within the Hinchinbrook Island National Park, except for a small and abandoned resort. It is the largest island on the Great Barrier Reef. It is also the largest island national park in Australia.
Cardwell is a coastal town and rural locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, the locality of Cardwell had a population of 1,309 people.
Ingham is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, Queensland, Australia. It is named after William Bairstow Ingham and is the administrative centre for the Shire of Hinchinbrook.
The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately 1,004 kilometres (624 mi). It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in North West Queensland and flows generally north-west through the Gulf Country, across a large, flat clay pan, before entering the Gulf of Carpentaria.
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been historically remote and undeveloped, resulting in a distinctive regional character and identity.
The Murray Falls, a cascade waterfall on the Murray River, is located in the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Wet Tropics in Murray Upper, Cassowary Coast Region in the Far North region of Queensland, Australia.
The Herbert River Falls is a plunge waterfall on the Herbert River that is located in the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Wet Tropics in the Far North region of Queensland, Australia.
The Blencoe Falls is a segmented waterfall on the Blencoe Creek, located in Kirrama, Tablelands Region, in Far North Queensland, Australia.
The Tully River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia.
The Johnstone River, comprising the North Johnstone River and the South Johnstone River, is a river system in Far North and North Queensland, Australia.
The geography of Queensland in the north-east of Australia, is varied. It includes tropical islands, sandy beaches, flat river plains that flood after monsoon rains, tracts of rough, elevated terrain, dry deserts, rich agricultural belts and densely populated urban areas.
The Seaview Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, is a mountain range located west of Ingham in North Queensland, Australia. Much of the range is covered by rainforest and parts of it are protected in the Girringun National Park and the Wet Tropics of Queensland world heritage area.
Warrgamay is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language of northeast Queensland. It was closely related to Dyirbal.
The Warruŋu, also known as the Warungu/Warrongo, were an Indigenous Australian people of the northern Queensland rainforest areas south of Cairns.
Murray Upper is a rural locality in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census Murray Upper had a population of 266 people.
Hawkins Creek is a rural locality in the Shire of Hinchinbrook, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Hawkins Creek had a population of 216 people.
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