The Nicholson 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 w ...

in the Kimberley 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 ...

. It takes its name from the Nicholson Plains, named in 1879 by

Alexander Forrest Alexander Forrest CMG (22 September 1849 – 20 June 1901) was an explorer and surveyor of Western Australia, and later also a member of parliament. As a government surveyor, Forrest explored many areas of remote Western Australia, particu ...

after Sir Charles Nicholson, the central figure in the circle of Australian 'colonists' in London, and a promoter of the Forrest brothers' explorations. In 1870 Nicholson had presented a paper entitled ''On Forrest's Expedition into the Interior of Western Australia, Goyder's Survey of the Neighbourhood of Port Darwin, and on the Recent Progress of Australian Discovery'' to a meeting of the

Royal Geographical Society of London The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. The river rises just north of Koolerong Bore then flows south-west through Nicholson and through Marella Gorge then turning north and discharging into the

Ord River The Ord River is a river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers . The lower Ord River and the conjunction with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in Western Australia. The Ord ...

on the eastern edge of

Purnululu National Park The Purnululu National Park is a World Heritage Site in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. The national park is located approximately south of Kununurra, with Halls Creek located to the south. Declared a World Heritage Site in 2 ...

near Doughboy Hill. There are eleven

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

of the Nicholson including; Bamboo Creek, Bull Creek, Clean Skin Creek, Red Bank Creek, Tyson Creek and Wire Creek.

References

Rivers of the Kimberley region of Western Australia Ord River {{WesternAustralia-river-stub