The Prince Regent 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 ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

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 ...

. The headwaters of the river rise in the Caroline Range near Mount Agnes then flow in a north westerly direction. The river enters and flows through the

Prince Regent National Park Prince Regent National Park, formerly the Prince Regent Nature Reserve, is a protected area in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. In 1978 the area was nominated as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. Land The national park covers a tot ...

and past King Cascade and finally discharging into Saint George Basin and Hanover Bay to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. The river runs a uniquely straight course following a fault line for the majority of its length. The river has six

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 drainage b ...

, including Quail Creek, Youwanjela Creek, Womarama Creek and Pitta Creek. The river was named in 1820 by the first European to find the river, Philip Parker King and the crew of ''Mermaid''. The river is named after the Hanoverian prince,

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, who was shortly to succeed his father to the throne. The first European to settle in the area was Joseph Bradshaw, who established Marigui homestead along the river with his cousin Aeneas Gunn in 1890. In 1891 he located the

Gwion Gwion rock paintings The Gwion Gwion rock paintings, Gwion figures, Kiro Kiro or Kujon (previously known as the Bradshaw rock paintings, Bradshaw rock art, Bradshaw figures and the Bradshaws) are one of the two major regional traditions of rock art found in the nort ...

. The pastoral venture was unsuccessful but Gunn later documented his memoirs of the time in the book ''Pioneering in Northern Australia''. The river was visited in 1901 by the surveyor Frederick Brockman while on expedition in the area. The traditional owners of the area are the Worrorra people. Eighteen freshwater fish species are known to inhabit the waters of the Prince Regent River.

Crocodile attacks

*On 29 March 1987, an American 24-year-old model named Ginger Meadows was killed by a crocodile while standing under the waterfall of the near Broome. *In 2015, a woman was attacked by a crocodile.

References

{{Authority control Rivers of the Kimberley region of Western Australia