The Gibb 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 ...

in the

Kimberley region The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, an ...

of northern

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 t ...

. The headwaters of the river rise between the Caroline and Gibb Ranges. The river flows in a northerly direction until merging with the Drysdale River, of which it is a

tributary 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 drai ...

. Gibb River has three tributaries: North Creek, Plain Creek and Russ Creek. The Gibb River was named in 1901 by the surveyor Charles Crossland during an expedition in the Kimberley area. It is named after geologist

Andrew Gibb Maitland Andrew Gibb Maitland (30 November 1864 – 27 January 1951) was an English-born Australian geologist. Maitland was born in Birkby, Yorkshire, England and studied civil engineering at Yorkshire College of Science, Leeds where he was influenced ...

, who had accompanied Crossland and was present during the first recorded sighting of the river. In turn, it gives its name to the Gibb River Road, a former cattle route that stretches almost 660 kilometres (410 mi) across the Kimberley between the towns of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

and the Kununurra and Wyndham junction of the Great Northern Highway. The traditional owners of the area that the river flows through are the Ngarinjin people.

References

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