Edward River Canoe Trip

Introduction

During research for Murray-Darling Journeys we only found a handful of journeys on the Edward River with only one of them in the last century. The bits I had seen when crossing the river at Deniliquin and Moulamein showed that it is quite a wide river. During the research of the book we also came across the Edward River Canoe & Kayak Trail Guide which covered the whole river.  After a close look at the guide it seems to just be a listing of distances and road access points. It does not describe what the on-water conditions are like. Therefore, the Edward River was put onto my list as a river to paddle to see what it really was like.

I paddled the length of the Edward River between November 2018 and January 2019.

A summarized account of my journey is available in the NPA Bulletin, Vol. 56, No. 1, March 2019, pages 19-20

The Edward River is an anabranch of the Murray River. It leaves the Murray at Picnic Point upstream of Barmah, flows through Deniliquin and Moulamein before joining the Wakool River for it's final 30 km before rejoining the Murray downstream of Tooleybuc.  The overall length of the Edward River is about 400 km. According to Murray-Darling Journeys rowing and paddling journeys on the Edward River are rare and there are no detailed accounts of such journeys. However, there is the Edward River Canoe & Kayak Trail Guide which lists access points and river distances. 

During 2018 I exchanged some emails with Bill M from Queensland. Over recent years Bill and his mate Derek have paddled kayaks down the major rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin and in May-June 2018 they paddled down the Edward River at relatively low water levels. Bill reported 

The weather wasn't the best - cold and wet a lot of the way. But the Edward was an interesting paddle. The most difficult part of the trip was the first couple of kms past the regulator at Picnic Point. The river was blocked in two or three places with no way through. We had to put the boats on trolleys and walk them past. 

The Edward was flowing at about 1500ML a day. There was plenty of water the whole way. Other than the first few kilometres I didn't have to get out of the boat once for the whole trip. Most of the locals we spoke to told us we wouldn't be able to paddle thru but there was a path cut through every snag. It was an enjoyable trip through interesting countryside. The fishing was good the whole way. Caught half a dozen big cod for the trip and plenty of smaller specimens. The Edward is just like a scaled-down version of the Murray.

It is noted that during the warmer months there often is a higher flow of up to 3000 Ml/day and higher water level 1-1.5 metres higher than winter levels.

This description is broken up into four sub-pages (click on the links below or on the three horizontal lines at the top left corner of this page):

Picnic Point to Deniliquin

Deniliquin to Moulamein

Moulamein to Kyalite

Kyalite to Murray River (via Wakool River)

Go here for links to my kayak trips (and those of others) on the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin and for further information (sample pages, reviews etc) on the book Murray-Darling Journeys.

Alternatively

For a description of my trip on the Murray River see: Murray River Canoe Trip 

For a description of my trip on the lower Murray River (Wentworth to the Murray Mouth) in 2021 see: Lower Murray River Canoe Trip 

For my description of my trip on the Murrumbidgee River see: Murrumbidgee River Canoe Trip

For my description of my trip on the Murrumbidgee River 2020-2021 see: Murrumbidgee River 2020-2021

For my description of my trip on the Goulburn River see: Goulburn River Canoe Trip 

For a description of my trip on the Darling River see: Darling River Canoe Trip 

For a description of my trip down the Barwon River see: Barwon River Canoe Trip 

For a description of my trip on the Great Darling Anabranch see: Great Darling Anabranch Canoe Trip

If you have any questions or comments please contact me on mcbremers@gmail.com

Mike Bremers            

Maps

I used the topographic maps obtained from NSW SIX Maps. I downloaded fragments of the etopo maps (last dot point below), printed them, wrote notes on the maps (e.g. distances) and highlighted sections such as the location of weirs. Then I finally laminated them for use on the deck of my kayak. You may be able to access copies of the maps here: Edward River Maps.

• Edward River Canoe & Kayak Trail Guide (note that some of the distances in this Guide are inaccurate - see further information below)

• Hayman’s Maps, Barmah-Shepparton-Deniliquin Adventure Map, Available here.

• Edward River Charts, a Deniliquin Boat Users Guide, available from Deniliquin Visitors Centre, covers 35 km from Deniliquin to Stevens Weir

• NSW SIX Maps  Here you can view and print NSW topographic and Satellite images of the whole state.  There are various tools such as distance measurement.

or 

• NSW SIX Maps etopo  You can download for free a PDF of the relevant topographic map and then in Adobe (free version) you can use the "Snapshot" tool (go to Edit -> Take a Snapshot) to select the part of the map you want. Then you can right click in the selected area to print that part of the map. This provides you with the official topographic map which includes 1 km grid lines. However, it can be annoying when the river crosses the border of the map multiple times!

River Levels

MDBA Edward River Offtake

MDBA Stevens Weir

Links

Murray-Darling Journeys - the book and links to other journeys

Edward River Canoe & Kayak Trail Guide 

Edward River: Picnic Point to Deniliquin. A video by Peter Phillips

The Edward River: A video by the students of Moulamein Public School

Flowing Facts about the Edward River Information about the Edward River by students of the Deniliquin South Public School

Scarred Tree Manual

Modified Trees (Scar Trees)

Ring (or boundary) Trees

Scar and Ring Trees of the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin

River Distances (km) Overview

Edwards Bridge - Deniliquin                                            57#, 61*

Deniliquin - Stevens Weir                                                  30**

Stevens Weir - Moulamein                                               182#  181.5*

Moulamein - Kyalite (Wakkool River)                             127.5# 117*

Kyalite - Murray Confluence                                             32^

River Distance References:

*Edward River Canoe & Kayak Trail Guide

**Edward River Charts, a Deniliquin Boat Users Guide, available from Deniliquin Visitors Centre

# GPS

^Map measurement

Some of the distances given between access points in Edward River Canoe & Kayak Trail Guide do not match the distances that I have measured by GPS. Some differences are quite large and can result in difficulties if an extra 10 km are required to be paddled to a pre-arranged pickup point. Details are given below

River Distances Detail, GPS  (Canoe Guide)

1. Edwards Bridge - Hazelwood Rd Footbridge                                        27.5  (35)

2. Hazelwood Rd Footbridge - Deniliquin (Willoughbys Beach)              28    (26)          

3. Deniliquin (Willoughbys Beach) - Greg Graham Reserve                    25.5 (25)       Greg Graham Reserve is 4 km upstream of Stevens Weir

4. Stevens Weir - Morago Bridge*                                                                 20 (20)                                                                          

5. Morago Bridge* - Werai NW Boundary

5A. Morago Bridge* - Niemur River junction                                              30.6 (31)

5B. Niemur River junction - Werai NW Boundary                                      25.3 (27.5)

6. Werai NW Boundary - Balpool Rd                                                             27.2 (27)

7. Balpool Rd - McKenzie Reserve                                                                 35.4 (46)

8. McKenzie Reserve - Moulamein Reserve                                                 38 (30)

9. Moulamein Reserve - Moolpa Reserve

9A. Moulamein Reserve - 9 Mile Reserve                                                     36.5 (29)

9B. 9 Mile Reserve - Moolpa Reserve                                                           24.1 (30)

10 Moolpa Reserve - Kyalite Public Reserve

10A. Moolpa Reserve - Yal Yal Reserve                                                        41.5 (35)

10B. Yal Yal Reserve - Kyalite Public Reserve                                             25.4 (23)

*Morago Bridge is a convenient access point and the GPS distance from Stevens Weir matches the Canoe Guide distance which shows access further downstream on Finn Rd.