A197, Geikie Gorge National Park, Western Australia, Fitzroy River, 2007

Geikie Gorge (known locally as Darngku) is a feature of the

Napier Range The Napier Ranges are located in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia. The range is south of and runs parallel to the Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges (formerly King Leopold Ranges). The majority of the Kimberley i ...

and is located within the grounds of Danggu Gorge National Park (formerly, Geikie Gorge National Park), from

Fitzroy Crossing Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

, northeast of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and east of Broome 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 ...

. Believed to be one of the best-known and most easily accessed, the gorge is named in honour of Sir

Archibald Geikie Sir Archibald Geikie (28 December 183510 November 1924) was a Scottish geologist and writer. Early life Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of Isabella Thom and her husband James Stuart Geikie, a musician and music critic. T ...

, the

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive (government), executive officer, often the chief executive offi ...

of Geological Survey for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

when it was given its European name in 1883. Along with Tunnel Creek and

Windjana Gorge Windjana Gorge is a gorge in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is located within the Windjana Gorge National Park. The gorge was formed by the Lennard River having eroded away a section of the Napier Range. The range was formed over ...

, Geikie Gorge is part of an ancient

barrier reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

that developed during the

Devonian Period The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...

. The walls of the gorge are 30 metres high. The eight kilometer gorge was created by the flowing waters of the Fitzroy River, which still flows through the region.

Freshwater crocodile The freshwater crocodile (''Crocodylus johnstoni''), also known as the Australian freshwater crocodile, Johnstone's crocodile or the freshie, is a species of crocodile endemic to the northern regions of Australia. Unlike their much larger Austr ...

s, Leichhardt's sawfish and coach-whip stingrays inhabit the river.

References

Watercourses of Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia) Canyons and gorges of Western Australia {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub