Dandenong Creek

For other uses of the name Dandenong, see Dandenong (disambiguation).

Dandenong (Narra Narrawong, Dandinnong)
Dand-y-non, Tanjenong
Creek
Dandenong Creek channeled as an urban stream in Dandenong
Name origin: Aboriginal Bunwurrung: "high" or "lofty"
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Regions	South East Coastal Plain (IBRA), Greater Melbourne
Local government area	City of Monash
Part of	Port Phillip catchment
Tributaries
- left	Corhanwarrabul Creek
Primary source	Dandenong Ranges
Secondary source	Bungalook Creek
- location	near Heathmont
- elevation	96 m (315 ft)
- coordinates
Mouth	confluence with the Eumemmerring Creek to form the Patterson River
- location	southwest of Bangholme
- elevation	6 m (20 ft)
- coordinates
Length	34 km (21 mi)
Location of the Dandenong Creek mouth in Victoria

The Dandenong Creek (Aboriginal Bunwurrung: Narra Narrawong or Dandinnong) is an urban creek of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the eastern and south-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian state of Victoria.

Location and features

With its headwaters in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges within the Dandenong Ranges National Park sourced by downstream flows from the Bungalook Creek, the Dandenong Creek rises in urban parkland that divides the Melbourne suburbs of Heathmont and Boronia. The creek flows generally south by southwest, joined by the Corhanwarrabul Creek, before reaching its confluence with the Eumemmerring Creek to form the man-made Patterson River southwest of Bangholme. The creek descends 87 metres (285 ft) over its course that is estimated to range from 34 kilometres (21 mi) to 53 kilometres (33 mi).

The health of the creek in these urban areas ranges from moderate to very poor and has been the focus of a number of clean-up campaigns in recent years.

The creek is also the home of one of the largest remaining populations of Yarra Gum.

A bike path known as the Dandenong Creek Trail runs alongside for a significant distance. It also has an industrial wastewater course joining onto it in Bayswater known as Old Joe's Creek, where a bad smell occurs.

Etymology

The traditional custodians of the land surrounding what is now known as the Dandenong Creek were the indigenous Bunurong people of the Kulin nation who referred to the creek as Narra Narrawong; while others gave the creek the name Dandenong, sometimes spelled as Dand-y-non or Tanjenong by early settlers, believed to mean "high" or "lofty".

History

The first European to see the creek near its source was in 1839 and is believed to be Daniel Bunce, a botanist.

See also

• List of rivers of Victoria

External links

• Returning Dandenong Creek project
• First Friends of Dandenong Creek website