The Styx River is a
perennial river
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
in the centre of southern
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
, Australia. The upper reaches of the Styx River are in the
Tasmanian Wilderness
The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, abbreviated to TWWHA, is a World Heritage Site in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the largest conservation areas in Australia, covering , or almost 25 per cent of Tasmania. It is also one of the l ...
, south west of
Maydena
Maydena is a locality in Tasmania, Australia, alongside the River Tyenna.
Maydena is on the Gordon River Road, south west of New Norfolk, through the Bushy Park Hop Fields, turn left at Westerway, past Mount Field National Park and Russell Fal ...
. The river is a popular destination for river-rafting and canoeing.
Location and features
The Styx River rises below Mount Mueller at an elevation of
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...
and flows generally east by north, joined by five minor tributaries, before reaching its
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...
with the
River Derwent near Macquarie Plains, west of . 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 ]Styx Valley
The Styx Valley is a valley located adjacent to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area on the island of Tasmania, Australia. The Styx River is the main drainage system of the valley that lies about northwest of Hobart, with the nearest tow ...
contains old growth forests including the tallest hardwood trees on earth, ''Eucalyptus regnans
''Eucalyptus regnans'', known variously as mountain ash (in Victoria), giant ash or swamp gum (in Tasmania), or stringy gum, is a species of very tall forest tree that is native to the Australia states of Tasmania and Victoria. It is a straigh ...
''. The Wilderness Society and Senator Bob Brown
Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a Australian Senate, senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian ...
have campaigned to save the forest from harvesting for sawn timber and woodchips
Woodchips are small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood such as trees, branches, logging residues, Tree stump, stumps, roots, and wood waste.
Woodchips may be used as a biomass solid fuel and are r ...
. Some trees are so large they have become tourist attractions and named, including the ''Christmas Tree'' and ''Chapel Tree''.
The first settlers in the Styx Valley arrived in 1812. The name has no classical associations; early colonial visitors noted the many fallen trees, stripped of bark and bleached by years of exposure, laying across the river and along the banks. The name came from this feature, literally, the 'river of sticks' - Sticks River. The name was changed later by a government official.[McKay, Journals of the Land Commissioners for Van Diemen's Land 1826–28, p. 38]
See also
*
References
River Derwent (Tasmania)
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