Adelaide River

river, Northern Territory, Australia

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Article History

Adelaide River, river in northwestern Northern Territory, Australia, rising in the hills west of Brock’s Creek and flowing (with marked summer increases in volume) for 110 miles (180 km) northeastward to Adam Bay, an inlet of the Timor Sea on Clarence Strait. From its mouth, 32 miles (50 km) northeast of Darwin, it is navigable for 80 miles (130 km). The river was reached in 1839 by L.R. Fitzmaurice of the ship HMS Beagle and named after the British dowager queen Adelaide. It was explored by John McDouall Stuart in 1862, and the first settlement along its banks was Escape Cliffs (1864–67). Since the 1890s the black soils lining the Adelaide’s lower reaches have been used for agricultural experiments—vegetables and rice- and cattle-farming projects. The town of Adelaide River, located where the Stuart Highway and North Australia Railway cross the stream, is a tourist base for the Rum Jungle and Daly River districts.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.