The Roe River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The headwaters of the river lie in the Princess May Ranges within the Prince Regent National Park flowing in a north westerly direction, discharging into

Prince Frederick Harbour Prince Frederick Harbour lies at the southern end of the York Sound, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, opening into the Indian Ocean. The Hunter and the Roe Rivers both discharge directly into the harbour. The area was surveyed i ...

York Sound York Sound is a sound located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia opening into the Indian Ocean. The sound is bounded by Cape Pond to the North and Hardey Point with the Coronation Islands to the South. The nearest populated town to the ...

, and then to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. The river contains several permanent pools, including Paradise Pool where many examples of ancient

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

art known as Bradshaw paintings are found along the cliff faces. Bradshaw paintings are dated at a minimum of 17,000 years before the present.

Tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' 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 into which the ...

include the Moran River, Garimbu Creek, Wyulda Creek, Rufous Creek and Gandjal Creek. The river was named in 1820 by

Philip Parker King Phillip Parker King (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King ''née'' Coom ...

after the father of

master's mate Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the British Royal Navy, Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the sailing master, master. Master's mates evolved into th ...

John Septimus Roe during his voyage in ''Mermaid''; he also named Prince Frederick Harbour, Prince Regent River and the nearby Mount Trafalgar during the same visit. The first European to trace the Roe from its source to its outflow in Prince Frederick Harbour was government surveyor Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman in 1901.

References

{{Rivers of Western Australia Rivers of the Kimberley region of Western Australia