Rivers of Tasmania


This page discusses the rivers and hydrography of the state of Tasmania, Australia.
In the geography of Tasmania, the state is covered with a network of rivers and lake systems. As an island, all rivers eventually empty into the waters that surround Tasmania. There are four main river systems:
  1. In the south, the Derwent flows from the Central Highlands past Hobart, to the sea at Storm Bay;
  2. In the west, the Gordon River takes the waters of Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder and is joined by the Franklin River before flowing into Macquarie Harbour;
  3. Flowing eastwards and to the south, the Huon River has its headwaters at Scotts Peak Dam on Lake Pedder, and reaches the sea in D'Entrecasteaux Channel; and
  4. Flowing from the north-east, the South Esk, the state's longest river, joins the North Esk at Launceston to create the Tamar.
Compared to the rest of Australia, Tasmania has a very high proportion of wild or undisturbed rivers.

Catchment areas

Major catchments of Tasmania are linked to the major rivers, the most notable being the Derwent. Catchments by region are:

South west region

The following rivers are the longest river systems, by length.

River topography

Rivers that flow towards the Tasman Sea of the South Pacific Ocean

D'Entrecasteaux (Derwent) sub-catchment

GordonFranklin sub-catchment

EskTamar catchment