The Mount Royal 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 ...

in the

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

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 ...

Location and features

The Mount Royal Range is a

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

on the eastern side 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 ...

. It diverges from the

Liverpool Range The Liverpool Range is a mountain range and a lava-field province in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern peaks of the range were the traditional territory of the Wonnarua people. Geography The Liverpool Range starts from the volcanic plate ...

at a point north of

Scone, New South Wales Scone is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Scone had a population of 5,624 people. It is on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres north of Sydney ...

, near Ben Halls Gap. The range generally extends to the southeast for about and then generally to the south southwest for about to

Mount Royal Mount Royal (french: link=no, Mont Royal, ) is a large intrusive rock hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The best-known hypothesis for the origin of the name Montreal is the hi ...

. The range generally forms the divide between the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

and

Manning River Manning River (Birpai language, Biripi: ''Boolumbahtee''), an open and Breakwater (structure), trained mature wind wave, wave dominated estuary#Lagoon-type or bar-built, barrier estuary, is located in the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast ...

drainage basins, both of which drain to the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

. The range contains a number of prominent peaks including: * Brumlow Tops with an elevation of *

Mount Polblue Polblue is a mountain on the Barrington Tops plateau, located in the Mid-Coast Council within New South Wales, Australia. At above sea level, Polblue is the second highest point in the area after Brumlow Top. The surrounding area is covered by ...

with an elevation of * Mount Barrington with an elevation of *

with an elevation of *

Mount Allyn Mount Allyn is a mountain with an elevation of that is part of the Allyn Range, located within the Chichester State Forest, in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Mount Allyn is located about south southwest of Careys Peak ...

with an elevation of *

Prospero Prospero ( ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play '' The Tempest''. Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, whose usurping brother, Antonio, had put him (with his three-year-old daughter, Miranda) to sea ...

with an elevation of * Gulph Mountain * Gog and Magog * The Pinnacle * Paddys Ridge * Mount William * Mount Paterson * Mount Toonumbue * the Belgrave Pinnacle * Mirannie Mountain * Mount George * Hudsons Peak * Mount Johnstone

Etymology

The range is named after Mount Royal, one of its prominent peaks.

Water storage

To provide water for the

Bayswater Power Station Bayswater Power Station is a bituminous (black) coal-powered thermal power station with four Tokyo Shibaura Electric (Japan) steam driven turbo alternators for a combined capacity of . Commissioned between 1985 and 1986, the station is locat ...

, the

Barnard River Scheme The Barnard River Scheme is an inter-basin water transfer system in New South Wales, which can transfer water from the Barnard River in the upper Manning River catchment over the Mount Royal Range into the Hunter River. The scheme was constructed ...

was constructed in the 1980s so water could be transported over the range into the Hunter River.

Geology

The Mount Royal range forms the northern rim of the Hunter Region. The

Barrington Tops Barrington Tops is part of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales, Australia, between Gloucester and Scone. In 1934, the area was difficult to access and was described as being "not traceable to any man-made feature". Part of the area has ...

, an elevated plateau at the headwaters of the

Barrington River Barrington may refer to: People * Barrington (name) * Barrington baronets, holders of a title in the baronetage of England * Viscount Barrington, a title in the peerage of Ireland Places Australia * Barrington, New South Wales * Barring ...

, are part of the Mount Royal Range. The

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

listed

Barrington Tops National Park The Barrington Tops National Park is a protected national park located in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. Gazetted in 1969, the park is situated between Scone, Singleton, Dungog, Gloucester and East Gresford. The park is part ...

includes this area.

Gallery

Image:Mount Royal - eucalyptus forest.jpg, Mount Royal -

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

forest Image:Mount Royal - eucalytus forest 2.jpg, Mount Royal - eucalyptus forest Image:Mount Royal - basalt outcrop 1100 metres asl.jpg, Mount Royal,

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 ...

at 1100 metres Image:Mount Royal - moss forest.jpg, Mount Royal -

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

, moss & ferns Image:Mount Royal - moss forest 2.jpg, Mount Royal - cloud forest, basalt & ferns Image:Mount Royal - moss forest 3.jpg, Mount Royal, cloud forest, basalt, ferns & moss Image:Mount Royal - rainforest summit.jpg, Mount Royal, cloud forest, Hill water gum rainforest at summit Image:Brumlow Tops.jpg,

Snow Gum ''Eucalyptus pauciflora'', commonly known as snow gum, cabbage gum or white sally, is a species of tree or mallee that is native to eastern Australia. It has smooth bark, lance-shaped to elliptical leaves, flower buds in clusters of between sev ...

s at Brumlow Tops summit, elevation 1586 metres, the highest point in northern

References