The Gregory 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 arise ...

located in

Far North Queensland Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf C ...

, Australia.

Location and features

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, that runs rough ...

, the Gregory Range lies southeast of and southwest of . The range is located in an area of

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

watercourses and stony

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

ridges lightly vegetated with Eucalyptus miniata,

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

and spinifex on the ridge tops. Further down the ridges areas of

paperbark ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...

are found. The range extends approximately in an east–west direction. The southern portion forms an undulating sandstone and

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 ...

plateau. The sandstone is of the

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

age (180-160 million years) while the basalt and granite dates from the Mesoproterozoic age (1.6 - 1.0 billion years). This portion is covered in open forest of

Bloodwood Bloodwood is a common name for several unrelated trees, including: * '' Baloghia inophylla'' (Brush or Scrub bloodwood), '' Baloghia marmorata'' (Marbled bloodwood), '' Baloghia parviflora'' (Small-flowered bloodwood), all found in Australia * ' ...

, wattle, eucalypts and spear grass. The Stawall River flows south from the range and is a tributary of the

Flinders River The Flinders River is the longest river in Queensland, Australia, at approximately . It was named in honour of the explorer Matthew Flinders. The catchment is sparsely populated and mostly undeveloped. The Flinders rises on the western slopes ...

. The

Norman River The Norman River is a river in the Gulf Country, Queensland, Australia. The river originates in the Gregory Range 200 km southeast of Croydon and flows 420 km northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is joined by three major tributari ...

and three of its tributaries the

Carron Carron may refer to: Rivers * River Carron, Forth, a river in Central Scotland * River Carron, Wester Ross * River Carron, Sutherland * Carron River (Queensland), a river in Australia * Carron Water, Aberdeenshire, a river that flows into the Nort ...

Clara Clara may refer to: Organizations * CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization * Clara.Net, a European ISP * Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium People * Clara (given name), a feminine gi ...

and

Yappar River The Yappar River is a river located in the Gulf Country region of Far North Queensland, Australia. Course and features The river rises below the Gregory Range near Esmeralda in an area of ephemeral watercourses and stony sandstone ridges li ...

s, also have their headwaters in the range. The flow from these rivers is westward into the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary is ...

The

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

and

Robertson River The Robertson River is a river in Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand. It rises to the east of the Tin Range and flows into the sea east of Port Pegasus. See also *List of rivers of New Zealand This is a list of all waterways named as rivers ...

s also have there headwaters in the range but flow northward. The highest point is in the southern half of the range with an elevation of and is found within the

Blackbraes National Park Blackbraes is a national park in Shire of Etheridge of Far North Queensland, Australia. Geography The park is 1265 km northwest of Brisbane, 170 km north of Hughenden, and 280 km west of Townsville. Two small sections are also ...

. The first

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

to travel through the area was the explorer

Augustus Charles Gregory Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...

in 1855 or 1856 as part of his expedition from

Port Essington Port Essington is an inlet and historic site located on the Cobourg Peninsula in the Garig Gunak Barlu National Park in Australia's Northern Territory. It was the site of an early attempt at British settlement, but now exists only as a remote ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. The range was named by the explorer

John McKinlay John McKinlay (26 August 1819 – 31 December 1872)
, Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, which he left from in 1861, in search of the lost

Burke and Wills The Burke and Wills expedition was organised by the Royal Society of Victoria in Australia in 1860–61. It consisted of 19 men led by Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills, with the objective of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the ...

expedition.

References

{{Reflist Mountain ranges of Queensland Landforms of Far North Queensland