sunset

Petrie Creek

Petrie Creek rises in the Blackall Range near Flaxton, directly west of Woombye. It drops quickly and winds its way through to Nambour. From here is meanders along the flood plains joined by Paynters Creek just before it enters the Maroochy River.

The river is named after Tom Petrie who paddled the creek in a long boat back in 1862.

What to expect

Easy wide tidal river for most of the trip to the Bruce Highway. From here expect it to become narrow with rocky riffles and ponds until it becomes a steep rocky intermediate stream on the slopes of the range.

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Paddling Options

The two trips quickly covered here include a return paddle up towards Nambour and a paddle around the bottom of Paynter Creek. The latter had a trip report with a put-in from the edge of the road beside the creek. If that looks too difficult, the nearest boat ramps are at Maroochydore and Bli Bli.

Tidal Section

Start
Bradman Av
Turnaround
Bruce Hway
Length
23 km
Type
Return
Time
full day
Technical difficulty
Grade I
Rating
Elevation Loss
N/A (tidal)

Paynter Creek

Start
Roadside
Length
5 km
Type
Return
Time
half day
Technical difficulty
Grade I
Rating
Elevation Loss
N/A (tidal)

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Logistics

There is a gravel pull-over area along the bottom of Paynter Creek, otherwise it's the boat ramps on the Maroochy River at Maroochydore and Bli Bli.

Translink provide a couple of options for busing between Maroochydore and Nambour:

  • Bus Route 612 runs between Maroochydore and Bli Bli before heading up to Nambour.
  • Bus Route 610 runs directly between Maroochydore and Nambour.

All ramps and parks are operated by Sunshine Coast Council.

Refer to the Distance Table and the Interactive Map for additional details.

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Tides

There is easist to go with the tidal flows, though these are not as strong as those found on the main Maroochy River.

Tidal info for Petrie Creek Entrance
HAT
2.20 m
MSL
1.01 m
MHWS
1.70 m
MHWN
1.30 m
MLWN
0.60 m
MLWS
0.30 m
December
22
Sun
02:17
1.17 m
08:46
0.66 m
14:24
1.54 m
22:06
0.57 m
December
23
Mon
moon icon
03:33
1.20 m
09:54
0.76 m
15:12
1.45 m
22:55
0.55 m
December
24
Tue
04:48
1.28 m
11:11
0.81 m
16:07
1.37 m
23:43
0.51 m
December
25
Wed
05:49
1.39 m
12:29
0.81 m
17:04
1.31 m
Tides for selected locations on the Petrie Creek for Sunday, 22nd December
Paynter Creek
02:33
1.17 m
09:02
0.66 m
14:40
1.54 m
22:22
0.57 m
Bruce Hway
02:55
1.17 m
09:28
0.66 m
15:02
1.54 m
22:48
0.57 m
Tide predictions are estimates only. The tidal datum is for Mooloolaba. Tide predictions are calculated from Mooloolaba with times adjusted by 136 minutes for low tide and 84 minutes for high tide. Other locations use a similar offset calculation.
Please refer to the Bureau of Meteorology and Australian National Tide Tables for official tidal information.
© Commonwealth of Australia

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river

Quick Stats

Source
Near Montville
Elevation 250 m
Mouth
Maroochy River
Elevation 0 m
Length
29 km
Navigable
11.5 km
Catchment
112 sq km
Elevation Loss
Elevation 250 m
Council Areas
First Nations
Kabi Kabi
Directions To
Bradman Avenue
Bli Bli
Maroochydore
19.9°C
Feels like 21.6°C
19.9°C
12:30am
29°C
Forecast
Light Breeze
WNW at 7 kph
Strongest Gust: 7 kph WNW at 12:29am
0.0 mm since 9am yesterday
Today
Sunny.
0%
19°C
29°C
Mon
Sunny.
5% chance 0 mm
19°C
30°C
Tue
Partly cloudy.
10% chance 0 mm
21°C
29°C
Wed
Mostly sunny.
5% chance 0 mm
21°C
27°C
Thu
Partly cloudy.
5% chance 0 mm
21°C
28°C
Fri
Partly cloudy.
5% chance 0 mm
20°C
29°C
Sat
Sunny.
5% chance 0 mm
21°C
32°C

Sun and Twilight Times

04:50—18:42 / 13hr 51m
Civil: 04:25—19:07 / 14hr 41m
Nautical: 03:53—19:38 / 15hr 44m

Moon Info

Waning Gibbous
▼ 11:02am ▲ 11:35pm
Banner image is of a view over the lower Maroochy River to Maroochydore
© Thomas and Olivia Williams
Some rights reserved CC BY

Distances

Some key locations on the main waterways are listed below. Add another 100 m if starting from Muller Park Boat Ramp, Bli Bli.

Location * Features † Distance (km) §
Leg Total
R Bradman Avenue Boat Ramp, Maroochydore
-1.3
R Eudlo Creek 0.4 -0.9
R Petrie Creek 0.9 0.0
R Paynter Creek 2.4 2.4
Paynter Creek
Bruce Highway 9.0 11.4

* Side represents either the left / port (L) or right / starboard (R) sides when facing downstream of the main river or the specified direction of travel for bays or lakes (usually anticlockwise).
† Most of the features were taken from local council pages.
§ Distances have been manually calculated from the river mouth.

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Map

Explore the key locations in the map below. Most locations will have a photograph that can be seen by clicking on the icon or number in the map itself.

The map also has markers every kilometer that start at 0 at where the creek meet the Maroochy River. You may need to zoom in to see all of these kilometer markers. These do not correlate with any existing numbering system on the river.

Download Distances: KML / SHP / JSON / CSV / GPX / WKT
  • Eudlo Creek
  • Petrie Creek
  • Paynter Creek
  • Bruce Hway
  • Boat Ramps
  • Access Point

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Banner image is a view over the lower Maroochy River to Maroochydore.
© Thomas and Olivia Williams
Some rights reserved CC BY