The Barnett 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 wate ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The river rises below the Caroline Range near Mount Lacy and then flows south to the west of Mount Elizabeth then through the Barnett River gorge crossing the Gibb River Road near the Mount Barnett roadhouse before flowing into the

Hann River The Hann River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The traditional owners of the areas around the river are the Wurla. It was named after the first European to explore the river, Frank Hann, who had seen it during his ...

in the Philip Range near Mount Caroline. The traditional owners of the areas around the river are the

Ola people The Wurla, also written Ola, or Waladjangarri, are an indigenous Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia Name Though often written ''Ola'', Wurla is now considered the recommended transcription for this tribal ethnonym. ...

. It was named by the first

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an to explore the river,

Frank Hann Frank Hugh Hann (19 October 184521 August 1921) was an Australian pastoralist and explorer. Early life Hann was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Hann. Fellow explorer William Hann was his older brother. They were born in Wiltshire, England a ...

, who had seen it during his expedition to the region in 1898. He named the river after Alfred Barnett, who was the manager of Balmaningarra Station, which is situated along the

Lennard River Lennard River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river was named on 8 June 1879 by the explorer Alexander Forrest, during an expedition in the Kimberley area, after Amy Eliza Barrett-Lennard (1852-1897), who he was to ...

. Fish such as the western rainbowfish, the false-spine catfish and the Barnett River gudgeon have all been found within the river system.

References

{{Rivers of Western Australia Rivers of the Kimberley region of Western Australia Fitzroy River (Western Australia)