The Greenough River lies east of Geraldton. It has the largest catchment in the Greenough basin – about 12,500 km2.
The Greenough River rises just south of the Woojalong Hills on the Yilgarn Plateau about 60 kilometres north of Yalgoo.and flows about 340 kilometres generally south-west through the Waterloo Range and discharges to the Indian Ocean near Cape Burney about 10 km south of Geraldton.
Average annual rainfall varies between about 450 mm on the coast, falling to about 260 mm in the east of the catchment on the Yilgarn Plateau. The upper (eastern) half of the catchment is uncleared, and land use is classed as minimal use while in the lower (western) half of the catchment, unirrigated cropping is the dominant land use, with grazing more common closer to the coast. The lower Greenough, through Ellendale and Minnenooka, is a ‘gaining’ section of river and here groundwater often supplements surface flow or helps maintain permanent pools.
Highway 1 crosses the river at Greenough 23 kilometres from the mouth. The regionally important Geraldton-Mt Magnet Road (Route 123) crosses the river 50 kilometres east of Geraldton and 103 kilometres from its mouth.
Some historic permanent pools on the river are Ellendale Pool (67 kilometres from the mouth) and Noondamurra Pool (152 kilometres from the mouth).
The Carnarvon-Mullewa Road crosses the river 50km from Mullewa and 226 kilometres from the mouth.
The Greenough River was named by explorer Captain George Grey on 8 April 1839, after (probably) George Ballas Greenough, President of the Royal Geographical Society in 1837 at the time Grey’s expedition was equipped.
References:
George Grey, Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery to North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2, T. and W. Boone, London, 1841, p.37. [Facsimile Edition, Hesperian Press, Victoria Park, Western Australia, 1984]
Department of Water and Environmental Regulation – https://rivers.dwer.wa.gov.au/catchment/greenough-river
Download GPX file of the route of the Greenough River.
The Greenough River was the subject of a Source to Sea Road Trip.
© Kim Epton 2025
323 words, yy photographs, zz images.
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