New England Online > Geography > Landforms
Landforms of New England
New England's geography contains a diverse range of geographical features and terrains. Over New England's 67,019sq/km there are a variety of forests, rivers, lakes and mountains, all of which sit on a piece of land that nestles beside the Tasman Sea.
Mountains
The majority of New England is punctuated with small mountain ranges, although by world standards, these are more like hills. Despite this, the majority of the mountain ranges are wilderness areas, with steep forested terrain. The largest range is the Great Dividing Range which runs the entire length of New England from Walcha to Tenterfield. Smaller range spurs come off at intervals, seperating the many river valleys along the coast. No mountain in New England exceeds 1,585m above sea level.
Mount Duval - The larget mountain in Greater Armidale, Mt Duval is a popular nature reserve for the people of New England's biggest city.
Round Mountain - The highest mountain in New England, at 1,585 metres, Round Mountain forms part of the Snowy Range to the east of Armidale.
Rivers & Lakes
There are nine major river catchments in New England and hundreds of smaller streams that feed into the main river systems. Four of the river systems are part of the much larger Murray-Darling system that drain one-seventh of the Australian continent. The other five rivers flow off the tablelands into the sea and tend carry far more water than their inland counterparts.
| Longest Rivers in New England | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Catchment | Discharge |
| 1 | Clarence River | 22,400 | |
| 2 | Macleay River | 11,385 | |
| 3 | Macintyre River | 11,280 | |
| 4 | Gwydir River | 8,633 | |
| 5 | Macdonald River | 5,700* | |
| 6 | Hastings River | 3,595 | |
| 7 | Nambucca River | 1,460 | |
| 8 | Bellinger River | 1,100 | |
| 9 | Camden Haven River | 760 | |
| 10 | Wooli River | 190 | |
Clarence River - New England's longest river, the Clarence rises in the tablelands in the county of Parkes and flows south and east to the Tasman Sea at Yamba.
Macdonald River - Marking the border between Australia and New England, the Macdonald orginates in southern Apsleyshire near the town of Oorundumby.
Lake Copeton - The largest body of water in New England, Lake Copeton is an articifical lake created on the Gwydir River.
