The Mulgrave River, incorporating the East Mulgrave River and the West Mulgrave 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 ...

system located in Far North

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. The -long river flows towards the

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

and is located approximately south of .

Location and features

Walsh's-Pyramid-view-from-summit-2008-10-02 at 08-27-22

Sourced by runoff from the Bellenden Ker Range, the headwaters of the Mulgrave River rise as the east and west branches of the river below South Peak and west of respectively. The two branches form their

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 ...

within the

Wooroonooran National Park Wooroonooran National Park (Aboriginal for "Black Rock") is a national park in Queensland, Australia, 1,367 km northwest of Brisbane, between Innisfail and Cairns. The park is one of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area series of national ...

and the

Wet Tropics World Heritage Area The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km2 of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range. The Wet Tropics of Queensland meets all f ...

. The Mulgrave River flows generally north towards Little Mulgrave and through the outskirts of and flows through the

Goldsborough Valley Goldsborough is a locality in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Goldsborough had a population of 929 people. Geography The Mulgrave River flows from the south to the north-east of the locality, forming its northern boundary. T ...

. From Gordonvale the river flows east by south and then south where the Mulgrave River empties into the

south at the southern extremity of the Yarrabah Hills range where the Mulgrave meets the Russell River. The

Trinity Inlet The Trinity Inlet is an oceanic inlet which serves as the port for the city of Cairns, Queensland, Australia. The city centre is on the western bank where the inlet meets the Coral Sea. Location and features The Trinity Inlet is located in ...

was once the river mouth of the Mulgrave River.

Volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

activity that resulted in the rise of Green Hill in the Mulgrave Valley blocked the river from entering the sea near present-day Cairns. However, further research has shown river sediments above the basalt flows and it is now believed that other factors such as alluvial sediments may have altered the river's course and that perhaps it has alternated between the two mouths over time. The river has a

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of . From source to mouth, incorporating the east and west branches of the river, the river descends over a combined course. The river is crossed by the

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Na ...

south of Gordonvale via the

Desmond Trannore Bridge The Desmond Trannore Bridge is a road bridge that carries the Bruce Highway over the Mulgrave River in Gordonvale, in Far North Queensland, Australia. The -long bridge is higher than the former Mulgrave River Bridge, to improve flood immuni ...

. Gold was discovered in the river in the 1870s, bringing considerable change to the Goldsborough Valley. Gravel is now extracted from the riverbed. Freshwater stonefish and

crocodiles Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant memb ...

are found in the river, so caution is advised if swimming in the river. The pest fish

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

have been discovered in the river and have been the target of eradication efforts. Together with the Russell River, the Mulgrave River has a quite well-recorded flood history with documented evidence of flooding beginning in the late 19th century.

Language

'' Yidinji'' (also known as ''Yidinj'', ''Yidiny'', and ''Idindji'') is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

. Its traditional language region is within the local government areas of

Cairns Region The Cairns Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, centred on the regional city of Cairns. It was established in 2008 by the amalgamation of the City of Cairns and the Shires of Douglas and Mulgrave. ...

and

Tablelands Region The Tablelands Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia inland from the city of Cairns. Established in 2008, it was preceded by four previous local government areas which dated back more than a century. On 1 January ...

, in such localities as

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

Gordonvale Gordonvale is a rural sugar-growing town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality situated on the southern side of Cairns, Queensland, Cairns in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Gordonvale had a populati ...

, and the Mulgrave River, and the southern part of the

Atherton Tableland The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River. It was dammed to form an irrigation reservoir named Lake Tina ...

including Atherton and Kairi.

References

{{Rivers of Queensland Rivers of Far North Queensland Bodies of water of the Coral Sea

Location and features

Language

See also

References