Barron River (Queensland)

The Barron River rises on the Atherton Tablelands inland from Cairns in North Queensland, Australia. With its headwaters in Upper Barron, it flows through Lake Tinaroo, and the Barron Gorge, and eventually empties into the Coral Sea between Machans Beach and Aeroglen in Cairns. The Barron's headwaters commence in the Herberton Range National Park in the locality of Upper Barron (17.4544°S 145.4876°E / -17.4544; 145.4876 (Barron River (source))) at an elevation of 1,200 metres (3, 900 ft) and flow generally northward. The Dinner Falls are located along the upper Barron River within the locality of Upper Barron and the Mount Hypipamee National Park (17.4333°S 145.4833°E / -17.4333; 145.4833 (Dinner Falls)). The river then flows in a north-north-easterly direction across the Atherton Tablelands until it arrives at Lake Tinaroo created by the Tinaroo Dam. Below the dam wall, the river flows through the Tinaroo Falls (17.1700°S 145.5225°E / -17.1700; 145.5225 (Tinaroo Falls)). After the waterfall, the river continues in a northernly direction before turning east after Mareeba towards Kuranda. After passing under the Kuranda Range Highway's bridge and through the town of Kuranda, the river plunges from the Atherton Tablelands down the 260-metre (850 ft)-high Barron Falls (16.8336°S 145.6433°E / -16.8336; 145.6433 (Barron Falls)). Then the river passes through the Barron Gorge to the coastal plains below in the northern Cairns suburbs. Much of the water that used to flow over the Barron Falls has now been diverted into upstream dams. Much of the water that does flow through the falls is used to generate electricity at the Barron Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station, which reduces the former grandeur of the falls. Freshwater Creek joins the Barron River below the Gorge and drains Lake Morris and the Lamb and Whitfield Ranges. Before entering the Coral Sea, the river's delta splits into three distributaries (from north to south)

Flows through: Australia.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.