Wild rivers are earth's renegades, defying gravity, dancing to their own tunes, resisting the authority of humans, always chipping away, and eventually always winning.

The river has four distinct sections between Tom Groggin and Bringenbrong Bridge.

Grade II-III

Tom Groggin to Grassy Flat.
Pools and mostly Grade II rapids ~8 km

Grade III-IV

Murray Gates
The main upper gorge ~7 km

Grade I-III

Lower Gorge
Below Hermits Creek the river gradually eases. Bunroy Creek take out ~17 km

Flatwater

Below Biggara
Flatwater paddling out of the national park through farmland ~34 km

Above Grassy Flat, there is one notable harder drop, Grade III Riley's Ride (Japanese Bend) with a hidden rock stopper.

From Grassy Flat you enter the gorge proper and you will be facing up to a ~15 km swim if you can not handle the Grade III+ to IV rapids. Below Hermits Creek the river eases from a series of Grade III+ rapids, to easing Grade I-II rapids before exiting out into farmland and flattening out.

Walking the main gorge is not an option. There is a hiking trail that bypasses the gorge if you do not want to paddle this section of whitewater. The track rejoins the river at Hermits Creek just before the final Grade IV rapid near Surveyors Creek. You can continue walking or you could tackle the lower sections with a packraft.

More details about walking this track can be found in the Hiking and Camping page.

Guiding Companies

Whitewater Guides

This is a summary of the rapids taken from various whitewater guides.

Starting from the Grassy Flats Track:

Note that the Murray Gate grades are dependant on the water level and this section is very dangerous in flood. With a water level above 1.6m there will be minimal scouting opportunities.

Grade III

Under 0.7 m

Grade IV

0.7 - 1.3 m

Grade V

1.3 - 1.5 m

Grade VI

Above 1.5 m

Distances are from Tom Groggin Campground.

Distance	Grade	Name	Description
0		Tom Groggin Campground.
1.2 km		Track down to an old ford to Dogman's Hut.
1.3 km	III	Japanese Bend	A 1 m drop with a hidden stopper in the wave. Also known as Riley's Ride.
2.0 km		Tom Groggin Horse Camp
3.0 km		Low Bridge to Tom Groggin Station. You may be able to duck under this with water levels under 1 m.
		Numerious easy grade II rapids lead down towards Grassy Flats.
8.1 km		Grassy Flats
9.1 km	II+ - III	The Wall	It is recommended to stop if you have difficulty here.
11.8 km		Murray Gate Track
		Gates	~1-2 km downstream. Two cliffs on either side of the river, Baxter Creek on the right.
13.8 km	II+ - III	Headbanger	1st Rapid before short pool. Also known as Bobsled.
	III	Guides Mistake
	III - IV	South African Swim	150 m downstream. Easily scouted on the left.
	III - IV	Sharks Tooth	150 m downstream. This 100 m section is hard to scout and finishes with the abrupt drop and undercut rock of "The Thing".
	III+	The Thing	Ending of Sharks Tooth. Drop and undercut rock.
		Easier 400 m section with the following 3 rapids:
	III	Long Island
	II+	Rock Garden	This can be a bony scrape in low water.
	III	Himalayan Wrap
		A couple more pools bring you to a classic section of whitewater.
	III - III+	Nutty’s Garage	Also known as Tanks Garage.
	III - III+	Hole in the Head
15.5 km	III+ - IV	Hermits Creek	A small campsite can be found between Little Hermits and Hermits Creek on the left.
	III	Easy Over
		Another pool before:
	III - III+	Swimmers Delight	Also known as Swimmers Joy.
	III - III+	Gorgeous George	Also known as Gorgeous Gorge.
	III-III+	Roller Coaster	~200 m downstream. There is a nasty sieve on the right.
17.4 km	III	Jellyfish Rock	~450 m downstream. Last rapid of note in the gorge
		Another 9 km of fun II+ and III getting easier as you go down the gorge.
26.5 km		Bunroy Station, at Little Bunroy Ck ("Little Niche"). This is a privately owned farm so get permission if you want to take out here. Don’t trespass!
32.4 km		Bunroy Creek take out.
36.5 km		Exit from the national park and into sections that are often lined with willows passing through farmland. In higher flows, some of the following bridges may require portages.
37.8 km		Damms (Maguires) Bridge. There were fairly high overgrown banks here in 2019.
45.4 km		Biggara Bridge
55.9 km		Indi Bridge and Reserve
61.4 km		Private farm bridge
61.8 km		Private farm bridge
65.9 km		Swampy Plain River
68.4 km		Bringenbrong Bridge