- left Corhanwarrabul Creek - elevation 96 m (315 ft) - elevation 6 m (20 ft) Country Australia | - location near Heathmont - location southwest of Bangholme Mouth Patterson River | |
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Similar Olinda Creek, Mullum Mullum Creek, Andersons Creek, Gardiners Creek, Dandenong Valley Parklands | ||
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.
Contents
Map of Dandenong Creek, Victoria, Australia
Location and features
Dandenong Creek has its headwaters in the Dandenong Ranges near Olinda, within the Dandenong Ranges National Park and is sourced by downstream flows from the Bungalook Creek. 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 approximately 550 metres (1,800 ft) over its course of 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.