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Franklin
Franklin
	Franklin River near the Lyell Highway
	Location of the Franklin River mouth in Tasmania
Etymology	Sir John Franklin
Location
Country	Australia
State	Tasmania
Region	Central Highlands, Western
Physical characteristics
Source	Mount Hugel
• location	Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park
• coordinates	42°18′48″S 146°12′56″E / 42.31333°S 146.21556°E
• elevation	951 m (3,120 ft)
Mouth	Gordon River
• coordinates	42°35′27″S 145°44′24″E / 42.59083°S 145.74000°E
• elevation	11 m (36 ft)
Length	129 km (80 mi)
Basin features
River system	Gordon River
Tributaries
• left	Surprise River, Loddon River, Jane River
• right	Collingwood River, Lucan River, Andrew River
Reservoirs	Lake Undine; Lake Dixon

The Franklin River is a major perennial river located in the Central Highlands and western regions of Tasmania, Australia. The river is located in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Its source is situated at the western edge of the Central Highlands and it flows west towards the West Coast.

The river is named in honour of Sir John Franklin, a Governor of Tasmania, who later died searching for the Northwest Passage.

Location and features

The river rises below Mount Hugel west of Derwent Bridge on the western slopes of the Central Highlands and flows generally west and south through remote and rugged mountainous country until meeting its confluence with the Gordon River. From source to mouth the river is joined by sixteen tributaries including the Surprise, Collingwood, Lucan, Loddon, Andrew and the Jane rivers. In its upper reaches, the Franklin is impounded by two reservoirs, Lake Undine and Lake Dixon. The river is crossed by the Lyell Highway, also in its upper reaches. There are some archaeological sites that have identified pre-European activity. The upper reaches of the Franklin River were traversed by explorers in the nineteenth century, in their attempts to access Frenchmans Cap.

In the early twentieth century, access to the river was mostly pine logging in the lower reaches.^[2]^[3]

In the middle of the century, adventurous canoers sought to conquer the river's formidable challenges. The book Shooting The Franklin : Early canoeing on Tasmania's wild rivers identifies three trips in the 1950s.^[4]

Named places on the Franklin

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

In the case of earlier travellers, few locations of the river were named at all. During his initial journeys down the river, Bob Brown submitted names for some features. Before and since, rafters and canoers have added names for many of the bends and rapids on the river:

Location	Coordinates	Location	Coordinates
Livingstone Cut	42°20′5″S 145°47′49″E / 42.33472°S 145.79694°E / -42.33472; 145.79694 (Livingstone Cut)	Pig Trough	42°25′21″S 145°44′54″E / 42.42250°S 145.74833°E / -42.42250; 145.74833 (Pig Trough)
The Forceit	42°20′7″S 145°47′47″E / 42.33528°S 145.79639°E / -42.33528; 145.79639 (The Forceit)	Rock Island Bend	42°25′22″S 145°44′58″E / 42.42278°S 145.74944°E / -42.42278; 145.74944 (Rock Island Bend)
Sidewinder	42°20′18″S 145°47′41″E / 42.33833°S 145.79472°E / -42.33833; 145.79472 (Sidewinder)	Shower Cliff	42°25′18″S 145°45′7″E / 42.42167°S 145.75194°E / -42.42167; 145.75194 (Shower Cliff)
Thunderrush	42°20′27″S 145°47′35″E / 42.34083°S 145.79306°E / -42.34083; 145.79306 (Thunderrush)	Newland Cascades	42°25′18″S 145°45′16″E / 42.42167°S 145.75444°E / -42.42167; 145.75444 (Newland Cascades)
The Sanctum	42°20′37″S 145°47′31″E / 42.34361°S 145.79194°E / -42.34361; 145.79194 (The Sanctum)	Confluence of Jane River	42°27′32″S 145°46′18″E / 42.45889°S 145.77167°E / -42.45889; 145.77167 (Confluence of Jane River)
The Cauldron	42°20′48″S 145°47′27″E / 42.34667°S 145.79083°E / -42.34667; 145.79083 (The Cauldron)	Flat Island	42°28′21″S 145°45′37″E / 42.47250°S 145.76028°E / -42.47250; 145.76028 (Flat Island)
Mousehole	42°21′4″S 145°47′17″E / 42.35111°S 145.78806°E / -42.35111; 145.78806 (Mousehole)	Blackmans Bend	42°31′5″S 145°46′4″E / 42.51806°S 145.76778°E / -42.51806; 145.76778 (Blackmans Bend)
Deliverance Reach	42°21′4″S 145°47′6″E / 42.35111°S 145.78500°E / -42.35111; 145.78500 (Deliverance Reach)	Double Fall	42°31′27″S 145°45′23″E / 42.52417°S 145.75639°E / -42.52417; 145.75639 (Double Fall)
The Biscuit	42°21′45″S 145°46′34″E / 42.36250°S 145.77611°E / -42.36250; 145.77611 (The Biscuit)	Big Fall or Devils Hole	42°33′25″S 145°45′16″E / 42.55694°S 145.75444°E / -42.55694; 145.75444 (Big Fall)
Rafters Basin	42°21′52″S 145°46′20″E / 42.36444°S 145.77222°E / -42.36444; 145.77222 (Rafters Basin)	Galleon Bluff	42°33′37″S 145°45′52″E / 42.56028°S 145.76444°E / -42.56028; 145.76444 (Galleon Bluff)
Confluence of Andrew River	42°21′57″S 145°46′4″E / 42.36583°S 145.76778°E / -42.36583; 145.76778 (Confluence of Andrew River)	Verandah Cliffs	42°34′16″S 145°44′59″E / 42.57111°S 145.74972°E / -42.57111; 145.74972 (Verandah Cliffs)
Propsting Gorge	42°23′25″S 145°45′32″E / 42.39028°S 145.75889°E / -42.39028; 145.75889 (Propsting Gorge)	Shingle Island	42°34′59″S 145°44′40″E / 42.58306°S 145.74444°E / -42.58306; 145.74444 (Shingle Island)
Glen Calder	42°24′46″S 145°44′43″E / 42.41278°S 145.74528°E / -42.41278; 145.74528 (Glen Calder)	Pyramid Island	42°35′26″S 145°44′25″E / 42.59056°S 145.74028°E / -42.59056; 145.74028 (Pyramid Island)
Gaylard Rapids	42°25′8″S 145°44′49″E / 42.41889°S 145.74694°E / -42.41889; 145.74694 (Gaylard Rapids)	Confluence into Gordon River	42°35′27″S 145°44′24″E / 42.59083°S 145.74000°E / -42.59083; 145.74000 (Confluence into Gordon River)

Franklin River conservation battle

In the 1980s, the Franklin River become synonymous with Australia's largest conservation movement of the time, the movement battled to block Hydro Tasmania's proposed hydro-electric power plan, from building on the Franklin.

The focus on the dam and the issues of wilderness experience led to the development of people utilising the river at levels never previously experienced. The result of a drowning on the river led to stricter guidelines for users of the river. Richard Flanagan's Death of a River Guide is a fictional account of a drowning, by a writer with an academic and historical understanding of the area.^[5]

References

^ "Map of Franklin River, TAS". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia. 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
^ Kerr, Garry J.; McDermott, Harry (2004). The Huon pine story: the history of harvest and use of a unique timber (2nd ed.). Mainsail Books. ISBN 978-0-9577917-0-1.
^ Flanagan, Richard (1985). A terrible beauty: history of the Gordon River country. Greenhouse. ISBN 978-0-86436-001-4.
^ Dean, John (Johnson) (2002). Shooting the Franklin: early canoeing on Tasmania's wild rivers. J. and S. Dean. ISBN 978-0-9581744-0-4.
^ Flanagan, Richard (1994). Death of a river guide. McPhee Gribble. ISBN 978-0-86914-344-5.