Gilbert River (Queensland)

Gilbert
River
Gilbert River crossing on the Burke Developmental Road in southwest Cape York Peninsula
Name origin: In honour of John Gilbert
Country	Australia
State	Queensland
Region	Far North Queensland
Tributaries
- left	Langdon River, Little River (Queensland), Einasleigh River
- right	Styx River, Percy River, Robertson River
Source	Gregory and Newcastle Ranges, Atherton Tableland
- location	below Conical Hill
- elevation	634 m (2,080 ft)
Mouth	Gulf of Carpentaria
- location	north of Karumba
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	16°32′23″S 141°16′22″E / 16.53972°S 141.27278°E / -16.53972; 141.27278Coordinates: 16°32′23″S 141°16′22″E / 16.53972°S 141.27278°E / -16.53972; 141.27278
Length	887 km (551 mi)
Basin	46,810 km2 (18,073 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	280 m3/s (9,888 cu ft/s) (extremely seasonal)
National park	Blackbraes National Park
Location of Gilbert River mouth in Queensland

The Gilbert River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. When combined with the Einasleigh River, the river system is the largest river system in northern Australia.

The Gilbert River rises below Conical Hill in the Einasleigh Uplands, draining the eastern slopes of the Gregory Range and the western slopes of the Newcastle Range, north of Hughenden. The river flows generally northwest, joined by forty tributaries that drain the Blackbraes National Park including, from source to mouth, the Styx, Percy, Robertson, Langdon, Little, and Einasleigh rivers and numerous creeks. North of Karumba the Gilbert discharges into the Gulf of Carpentaria. However, northwest of Normanton an anabranch of the river forms confluence with the Smithburne River, also emptying into the Gulf. The Gilbert River has a catchment area of 22,041 square kilometres (8,510 sq mi) of which 455 square kilometres (176 sq mi), or a third of the total catchment, is a vast estuarine delta approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) wide that largely consists of tidal flats and mangrove swamps across the Gulf Country. The river descends 635 metres (2,083 ft) over its 887-kilometre (551 mi) course.

The Gilbert River is a seasonal stream and discharge can vary greatly depending on the intensity of the monsoon. When combined with the Einasleigh River, the Gilbert River has the sixth-highest discharge of any river in Australia, slightly less than that of the Potomac in North America. In an intense wet season, however, the discharge can be as large as that of the Fraser River in Canada, and in a mild wet season like that of 1951-52, the discharge can be as little as one tenth of the long term mean. It is estimated that runoff from the combined Gilbert-Einasleigh River system totals about 2.2 percent of the total runoff from Australia. The record major flood of the Gilbert River was in January 1974 and the floods of February 1991 and in January and February 2009, caused widespread road closures and inundation of properties throughout the catchment.