26 May 2026 – 64 kms – Barmah National Park
Yorta Yorta/Bangerang Country
The earth moved. And moved again. And again a few more times. The movement changed the course of rivers and was the catalyst for the development of the largest river red gum forest in Australia. It has influenced the course of human history to this day. Over the next three days, we’re going to unleash the geomorphology nerd and have a look at it all.
I head off fairly early – rain is again forecast this afternoon. I think we have a window though, so I’m not going to waste that.
Today we are heading into Barmah National Park to have a look at the Barmah-Millewa Forest and the part of the River Murray (Dhungala) known as “The Narrows” or “The Choke”.
The Barmah-Millewa Forest covers 66,000 hectares and is one of six ‘Living Murray icon sites’ in the Murray Darling Basin Plan – which means the government buys water to try to maintain/restore the ecosystem in this area (because there is not the political will to ensure the entire river system’s natural functions are maintained).
At least six times between 20,000 and 60,000 years ago, large surface-rupturing earthquakes caused up to 15 metres of displacement along the Cadell Fault which runs for 68 kilometres from south of Moama to Deniliquin. This displacement dammed the Murray and Goulburn Rivers, causing large lakes and a delta of sediment to form. This area is considered one of the best examples in the world of seismic activity altering the course of a river.
The river delta that built up supported the development of the river red gum forests which became established around 6,000 years ago, according to the pollen record. Prior to the earthquakes, the vegetation would have been mostly open woodland and grassy plains along the river.
The Murray River eventually found a path around the new wall of earth along the fault. It took off to the north around the fault along what we know today as the Edward River (which is actually just one really long anabranch of the Murray that dumps back into the Murray way downstream at Tooleybuc).
At times the lakes would drain. Winds blew sand and silt from the dry lakes into crescent sand dunes on the northern and eastern edges of the lakes which can still be seen today.
In more recent times, the river made its way back south. The Yorta Yorta/Bangerang have stories of how there was a great flood and the water had risen to the tops of the trees. They climbed up the Bama Sandhills and decided they would use their digging sticks to help the river break through the lower end of the sandhills – thereby establishing the current course of the river (we’ll go see this spot tomorrow).
This area was densely populated by the Yorta Yorta/Bangerang before white settlement and we’ll see a huge number of scar trees over the next few days, as well as middens and cooking mounds.
Today, our ride into the park takes us first to the outlet of the Moira and Barmah Lakes. In times of higher water, you can take a boat tour of the area. Today, the water is low and there is absolutely no one around. I stop and contemplate the size of these lakes and put together the timeline of events in my head.
Then we head out Sand Ridge Track. The track follows the eastern edge of the old lake along the lunette. The lunette is low and broad. The road is exceptionally corrugated, and wonder of wonders… sandy. It is not an easy ride whatsoever, and I’m constantly working to find the least boob-shaking line.
The forest is fairly open and we pass a large cleared area sacred to the Yorta Yorta/Bangerang where ceremonies and corroborees were held.
Eventually we drop down into the old lakebed and into thicker stands of trees. The road surface improves as we now are crossing dried and packed mud.
It is very sad to see the lack of old growth trees and the thick, even-aged stands of regrowth. While it is pleasant at a glance, it just looks flogged upon closer inspection. They logged this forest intensively until the 2000s and grazed it intensively, too.
Water regulation has also disrupted the frequency and timing of flooding which has led to degradation and a large loss of habitat and biodiversity. The anti-parks people say the thick forest is national park mismanagement – but it is actually a legacy of the logging and grazing that they’ve inherited. The thick stands of trees result from: 1) diminished flood frequency from river regulation (to take out the seedlings); 2) the practice of ring-barking undertaken until 1976 where large and old growth trees that were not saleable were ring-barked to kill them and allow more light for the saplings which encouraged thicker regrowth; and, 3) cattle grazing – the cattle trample and/or eat the various grassy species that would maintain an open forest but do not eat the tree saplings which allow them to grow.
Hopefully, with more frequent flooding through environmental watering (gov buying water to flood the forest) and implemation of cultural burning practices, the forest structure can be restored and habitat and biodiversity improved. And hopefully they can build this resilience back into the forest before climate change imposes additional stressors.
Eventually we make our way up to the Murray. We can’t actually see where the Edward River takes off north – where the river went once it could no longer go west through Mathoura after the series of earthquakes. But we can see the general area. I look at my map and again, put together all of the events in my head.
Now we take off along the river and have a look at “The Narrows”. The Barmah Narrows are naturally occurring levees that are unique to this area. The Barmah Narrows is a ‘perched’ river through here where the river is higher than the floodplain. The Narrows cause water to flow onto the floodplain through a braided network of anabranch creeks that fill the wetlands.
The Narrows also restrict the operation of water delivery along the River Murray. This is because the river channel is wider upstream and downstream, and less water can pass through the narrower section. It is the first area of the river to flood in large events and its constriction imposes strict water trading rules related to shifting water from above or below this section to the other side.
Research also suggests the capacity of the river in this section is descreasing from a slug of sand (from mining and land clearing) that’s been moving down the river and is now further ‘clogging’ up the The Narrows. Of course, there are plans and feasibility studies about how to increase the volume of water through here – because we can’t just let nature work itself out as that would get in the way of agricultural growth and profits.
Here is the latest news article about this:
Go see it in the meantime, though, as it is a unique and beautiful stretch of river and is supposedly an amazing section to canoe or kayak. I really enjoy looking at the difference in the character of the river bank – its straight-sided banks formed as silt jetties when the river was depositing sand and silt into the lakes that once covered the area. It contrasts with the sloping banks of the river up and downstream. It is also super easy to see how the river sits higher than the floodplain and easy to see how it can spill into all those little anabranches that run through the forest.
We ride down this section on the adjoining track for some distance, until the wind has picked up a bunch and the clouds are starting to look a bit threatening. Then we reverse course and re-ride the same route we took outbound. The sand ridge track is just as frustrating on the way back – I think about 35 of the 60 kms today is corrugations – but now we get to do it into a strong headwind, too.
It rains later on, but I’m really grateful we got the chance to do this ride today since we missed out on all of this in 2022.
I have a covered area to cook dinner, so the rain is not a hassle other than knowing we’ll have to pack up a wet tent in the AM. More rain forecast tomorrow, then it looks like we might finally get a nice day with no rain forecast.
