The Herbert River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

located in Far North

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. 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 The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...

Location and features

With its

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

forming at an elevation of on the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tina ...

, part of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills, that runs rough ...

west of

Herberton Herberton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Herberton had a population of 855 people. Geography Herberton is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is situat ...

and north of

Ravenshoe Ravenshoe ( ) is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Ravenshoe had a population of 1,400 people. Geography Ravenshoe is on the Atherton Tableland in Far North Queensland. It is located south ...

, the Herbert River is formed by the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Millstream and the Wild River. The Herbert River flows in a generally southeastern direction through the

Lumholtz National Park Girringun National Park is a national park in Queensland, Australia, approximately southwest of Ingham, north of Townsville and northwest of Brisbane. The park is one of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area series of national parks, and is a ...

joined by fifteen

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drain ...

including the

Stone River In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

and flowing past the town of Ingham. The Herbert River reaches its

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

where it enters the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

near Lucinda, at the southern end of the

Hinchinbrook Channel The Hinchinbrook Channel is a channel between the Australian mainland and Hinchinbrook Island. It runs for 44 km between Oyster Point, just south of Cardwell, and Lucinda in Far North Queensland. The Aboriginal name for the channel is B ...

, north of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

. The river descends over its

course Course may refer to: Directions or navigation * Course (navigation), the path of travel * Course (orienteering), a series of control points visited by orienteers during a competition, marked with red/white flags in the terrain, and corresponding ...

. 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 In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

, upstream of the

Herbert River Falls The Herbert River Falls is a plunge waterfall on the Herbert River that is located in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Wet Tropics in the Far North region of Queensland, Australia. Location and features The falls are located on the northern b ...

. 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 Mount Garnet is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Mount Garnet had a population of 430 people. Geography Various small communities populate the area around Mount Garnet. These include Tablela ...

and from the Forty Mile Scrub area. In total, the river has a catchment of . The Wallaman Falls on Stony Creek, another tributary of the Herbert, are Australia's tallest single-drop waterfall. Other waterfalls on the river include Herbert River Falls,

Blencoe Falls The Blencoe Falls is a segmented waterfall on the Blencoe Creek, located in Kirrama, Tablelands Region, in Far North Queensland, Australia. Location and features The falls are situated in the Girringun National Park approximately north of a ...

and

Millstream Falls The Millstream Falls ( Aboriginal: ''Yindinji''), a tiered plunge waterfall on The Millstream, is located in the UNESCO World Heritagelisted Wet Tropics in the Far North region of Queensland, Australia. Location and features The Millstr ...

. 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 over a few days may occur during peak

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

. Floodwater up to depths of above ground level occurs in low parts of the town, requiring the evacuation of residents and their property from low-lying areas. The river experienced significant flooding during the

2010–11 Queensland floods 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length&nb ...

People and land use

'' Warrgamay'' (also known as ''Waragamai'', ''Wargamay'', ''Wargamaygan'', ''Biyay'', and ''Warakamai'') is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

North Queensland 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 ...

. 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. '' Warungu'' (also known as ''Warrungu'', ''Warrongo'', and ''Waroongoo''.'')'' is an Australian Aboriginal language in

. The language region includes areas from the Upper Herbert River to

. The catchment area holds a population of about 18,000, 75% of whom dwell in the lower flood plain area. The river's upper region is used mainly for cattle grazing, while the lower Herbert River floodplain is given over to sugar cane production. The middle reaches of the catchment include

National Parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

, State Forests and sections of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Parts of the river, especially the Herbert River Gorge stretch, are used for

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word '' qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each s ...

ing and white water rafting. The Herbert River is one of Australia's two finest extended whitewater journeys, the other the Franklin River in Tasmania. 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 South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

. The Scheme was proposed in 1938 and abandoned in 1947.

References

External links

About the Herbert River Catchment
* * * {{Authority control Rivers of Far North Queensland North Queensland Floods in Queensland Bodies of water of the Coral Sea

Location and features

People and land use

See also

References

External links