Macdonald River, a
perennial river that is part of the
Namoi catchment within the
Murray–Darling basin, is located in the
Northern Tablelands district of
New South Wales,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
.
Course and features
The river rises east of
Niangala on the western slopes of the
Moonbi Range
The Moonbi Range, a mountain range that is part of the Great Dividing Range, is located in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia.
The range is located roughly north east of the city of Tamworth situated at the bottom of the W ...
and
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 ...
and flows generally north west after its
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
with its major
tributary, the
Cobrabald River
Cobrabald River, a mostly perennial river that is part of the Namoi catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands district of New South Wales, Australia.
The river rises in high country on the western slopes ...
, and flows through
Warrabah National Park
Warrabah is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney. It is situated west of Kingstown and east of Split Rock Dam.
The major feature of the park is the Namoi River which carves a gorge that drops . Activities in the park ...
before reaching its
mouth
In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
, with the
Namoi River; dropping 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 ...
of .
[
From source to mouth, the river passes through or near the villages of Woolbrook and ]Bendemeer
Bendemeer () is a village of 485 people on the Macdonald River in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated at the junction of the New England and Oxley Highways. Bendemeer is also famous for producing the number on ...
.
Recreation and development
Trout fishing is possible in the waters of the Macdonald River, its creeks and tributaries upstream of the New England Highway road bridge at Bendemeer. The Namoi River snapping turtle or Bell's turtle (''Elseya belli'') is a species of turtle found only in the upper reaches of the Namoi River, Gwydir River and Macdonald Rivers.
The T A Perry Bridge, that carries the New England Highway and crosses the Macdonald River, was completed in 1985, enabling a bypass of the village of Bendemeer.
In November 2008, torrential rain caused severe flooding in the Macdonald River and led to the area being declared a natural disaster area.
See also
* List of rivers of Australia
This is a list of rivers of Australia. Rivers are ordered alphabetically, by state. The same river may be found in more than one state as many rivers cross state borders.
Longest rivers nationally
Longest river by state or territory
Althoug ...
* List of rivers of New South Wales (L–Z)
* Rivers of New South Wales
References
External links
*
Trout and salmon fishing rules
{{coord, 30, 53, S, 151, 10, E, region:AU-NSW_type:river_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Rivers of New South Wales
Murray-Darling basin