The Dorrigo Plateau is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

in the Northern Tablelands and

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

regions of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The plateau forms 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. It runs roughl ...

and is sometimes referred to as the Dorrigo and Guy Fawkes Plateau. The highest peak on the plateau is Barren Mountain, at an elevation of .

Location and features

The plateau is defined by that area bounded in the south by the Dorrigo Escarpment, in the west by the New England Tableland, in the north by Hyland State Forest, Blicks River, Glen Fernaigh Creek and Nymboida River, and in the east by Bielsdown River up to the junction with Mathews Creek, then up to the head of Mathews Creek, then by the watershed extending generally south southeast to Dome Mountain. Located on the eastern edge of the plateau is the town of Dorrigo, north of the

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and from the coastal city of

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 a ...

. Richard Craig was the first European to arrive at the plateau, following the traditional indigenous route to Armidale from the Grafton area. Using his skills as a horseman, Craig travelled along the western side of the Nymboida River. Craig's track became a road, now roughly following the same path as the present Grafton to Armidale Road and travelling through the present day villages of , Billy's Creek, Dundurrabin, Tyringham and , the latter with an elevation of . Timbergetters followed Craig through the sub tropical rainforest and many sawmills grew due to demand for timber, initially the highly prized Australian Red Cedar (''Toona australis''). Today, the main access road traversing the plateau from east to west is the Waterfall Way. The Dorrigo Plateau and surrounding Guy Fawkes River National Park area was created by successive

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

flows from the Ebor Volcano covering the original granite base. Weathering from high rainfall caused an escarpment to form as the more ancient rocks underneath remained intact.

References

External links

Northern Rivers Geology Blog - Dorrigo Plateau
{{New England NSW , state=autocollapse Northern Tablelands New England (New South Wales) Plateaus of Australia

Location and features

See also

References

External links