Ferns beside a still pool

Murray River Gorge

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.

Richard Bangs, River Gods
River with minimal water and a lot of boulders Gorge at 0.22 m at Bigarra

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, ~7 km
Grade III-IV
Murray Gates
The main upper gorge, ~15 km
Grade I-III
Lower Gorge
Below Hermits Creek the river eases ~10 km
Flatwater
Below Biggara
~45 km flatwater paddling

Above Grassy Flat, there is one notable harder drop, Grade III "Riley's Ride". 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. More details about walking this track can be found in the Hiking and Camping page. The track rejoins the river at Hermits Creek just before the final Grade IV rapid. You can continue walking or you could tackle the lower sections with a packraft. From Hermits Creek the grades slowly ease from Grade III+ down.

Guiding Companies

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Alpine River Adventures

Inflatable kayaks and / or rafts. Bespoke guiding on the upper sections including the top 150 km mixed hike / kayak of the Murray River.

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Rafting Australia

Guided rafting trips down the Murray Gorge starting from Tom Groggin Station

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Whitewater Guides

This is a summary of the rapids taken from the old archived whitewater guide from Paddle Australia referenced above.

Starting from the Grassy Flats Track:

Grade
III - IV
Season
Late winter to early spring
Time
4 - 6 hr
Length
16 km
Level
0.8 - 1.8 m
Gauge
Bigarra (Indi), add 0.35 m

With a water level above 1.8m it was given a grade of Grade III+ - IV+ with minimal scouting opportunities.

Grade Name Description
Grade II+ - III The Wall (Pink Floyd) 500 m downstream. Recommended to stop if you have difficulty here.
- Gates ~1-2 km downstream. Two cliffs on either side of the river with a creek (Baxter Ck) tumbling from RR
II+ - III Headbanger (Bobsled) 1st Rapid before short pool
III Guides Mistake
Grade III - IV South African Swim 150 m downstream. Easily scouted on RL
Grade III - IV Sharks Tooth 150 m downstream. Rapid 100 m that is hard to scout and finishes with the abrupt drop and undercut rock of "The Thing".
Grade III+ The Thing Ending of Sharks Tooth. Drop and undercut rock.
Easier 400 m section with the following 3 rapids:
Grade III Long Island
Grade II+ Rock Garden A bony scrape in low water
Grade III Himalayan Wrap
A couple more pools bring you to a classic section of whitewater.
Grade III - III+ Tanks Garage
Grade III - III+ Hole in the Head
Grade III+ - IV Hermits Creek
Grade III Easy Over
Another pool before:
Grade III - III+ Swimmers Joy
Grade III - III+ Gorgeous George/Gorge
Grade III-III+ Roller Coaster ~200 m downstream. There is a nasty sieve on the right.
Grade III Jellyfish Rock ~450 m downstream. Last rapid of note in the gorge
Another 10 km of fun II+ and III getting easier as you go down the gorge.