The Mount Royal Range is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in the

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

region 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 ...

Location and features

The Mount Royal Range is a

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to ba ...

on the eastern side 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 ...

. It diverges from the

Liverpool Range The Liverpool Range is a mountain range and a lava-field province in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern peaks of the range were the traditional territory of the Wonnarua people. Geography The Liverpool Range starts from the volcanic plat ...

at a point north of

Scone, New South Wales Scone () is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2021 census, Scone had a population of 5,013 people. It is on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres (167.77 mil ...

, near Ben Halls Gap. The range generally extends to the southeast for about and then generally to the south southwest for about to

Mount Royal Mount Royal (, ) is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The city's name is derived from the mountain's name. The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentian M ...

. The range generally forms the divide between the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

and

Manning River Manning River (Birpai language, Biripi: ''Boolumbahtee''), an open and Breakwater (structure), trained mature wind wave, wave dominated estuary#Lagoon-type or bar-built, barrier estuary, is located in the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast ...

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

s, both of which drain to the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

. The range contains a number of prominent peaks including: * Brumlow Tops with an elevation of * Mount Polblue with an elevation of * Mount Barrington with an elevation of *

with an elevation of * Mount Allyn with an elevation of *

Prospero Prospero ( ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's ''The Tempest''. Character Twelve years before the play begins, Prospero is usurped from his position as the rightful Duke of Milan by his brother Antonio, ...

with an elevation of * Gulph Mountain * Gog and Magog * The Pinnacle * Paddys Ridge * Mount William * Mount Paterson * Mount Toonumbue * the Belgrave Pinnacle * Mirannie Mountain * Mount George * Hudsons Peak * Mount Johnstone

Etymology

The range is named after Mount Royal, one of its prominent peaks.

Water storage

To provide water for the

Bayswater Power Station Bayswater Power Station is a bituminous (black) coal-powered thermal power station with four Tokyo Shibaura Electric (Japan) steam driven turbo alternators for a combined capacity of . Commissioned between 1985 and 1986, the station is loca ...

, the Barnard River Scheme was constructed in the 1980s so water could be transported over the range into the Hunter River.

Geology

The Mount Royal range forms the northern rim of the Hunter Region. The

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area has ...

, an elevated plateau at the headwaters of the

Barrington River Barrington River may refer to: *Barrington River (New South Wales), Australia *Barrington River (Nova Scotia) The Barrington River is a small river in the South Shore region of Nova Scotia, Canada Canada is a country in North Americ ...

, are part of the Mount Royal Range. The

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

listed

Barrington Tops National Park The Barrington Tops National Park is a state park, protected national park in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. Government gazette, Gazetted in 1969, the park is situated between Scone, New South Wales, Scone, Singleton, New South ...

includes this area.

Gallery

Image:Mount Royal - eucalyptus forest.jpg, Mount Royal -

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

forest Image:Mount Royal - eucalytus forest 2.jpg, Mount Royal - eucalyptus forest Image:Mount Royal - basalt outcrop 1100 metres asl.jpg, Mount Royal,

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 ...

at 1100 metres Image:Mount Royal - moss forest.jpg, Mount Royal -

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

, moss & ferns Image:Mount Royal - moss forest 2.jpg, Mount Royal - cloud forest, basalt & ferns Image:Mount Royal - moss forest 3.jpg, Mount Royal, cloud forest, basalt, ferns & moss Image:Mount Royal - rainforest summit.jpg, Mount Royal, cloud forest, Hill water gum rainforest at summit Image:Brumlow Tops.jpg,

Snow Gum ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'', commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or Mallee (habit), mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters ...

s at Brumlow Tops summit, elevation 1586 metres, the highest point in northern

References