Dandenong Creek

Dandenong Dand-y-non, Tanjenong[1]
Dandenong Creek as a canalized urban stream in Dandenong Park, Dandenong
Location of the Dandenong Creek mouth in Victoria
Etymology	Aboriginal Bunwurrung: "high" or "lofty"[1]
Native name	Narra Narrawong, Dandinnong[1][2]
Location
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Region	South East Coastal Plain (IBRA), Greater Melbourne
Local government area	City of Monash
Physical characteristics
Source	Dandenong Ranges
2nd source	Bungalook Creek
• location	near Heathmont
• coordinates	37°50′8″S 145°15′25″E / 37.83556°S 145.25694°E / -37.83556; 145.25694
• elevation	556 m (1,824 ft)
Mouth	confluence with the Eumemmerring Creek to form the Patterson River
• location	southwest of Bangholme
• coordinates	38°02′30″S 145°10′34″E / 38.04155°S 145.17609°E / -38.04155; 145.17609
• elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Length	53 km (33 mi)
Basin features
River system	Port Phillip catchment
Tributaries
• left	Corhanwarrabul Creek, Blind Creek, Old Joes Creek, Dobsons Creek
• right	Mordialloc Creek, Mile Creek, Heatherdale Creek, Bungalook Creek, Little Bungalook Creek
[3][4]

The Dandenong Creek (Aboriginal Bunwurrung: Narra Narrawong^[1] or Dandinnong^[2]) is an urban creek^[3] of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the eastern and south-eastern Greater Melbourne region of the Australian east coast state of Victoria. The creek descends approximately 550 metres (1,800 ft) over its course of 53 kilometres (33 mi)^[1] before joining the Eumemmerring Creek to form the Patterson River (of which it can be considered the de facto main stem) and eventually draining into the Beaumaris Bay.

Together with its distributary Mordialloc Creek and the culvert-linked Kananook Creek and Elster Creek, the so-called "Dandenong Catchment" has an overall catchment of approximately 882 km² (341 sq mi).^[5]

Etymology[edit]

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".^[1]

Course[edit]

The first European to see the creek near its source was in 1839 and is believed to be Daniel Bunce, a botanist.^[1]

Dandenong Creek has its headwaters in the Dandenong Ranges near Olinda, sourced by a series of springs and small runoff streams within the Dandenong Ranges National Park. The creek can be roughly separated into three sections:

• The Upper Dandenong starts at the Olinda town center and first flows westwards between Mount Dandenong and The Basin, picking up its first significant tributary, the Dobson Creek, near a retarding basin just west of the junction among The Basin, Kilsyth, Kilsyth South and Boronia. It continues further west as the boundary between several adjacent suburbs, picking up Little Bungalook and Tarralla-Bungalook Creek before turning southwards at the junction between Ringwood, Vermont and Wantirna, roughly where EastLink crosses.
• The Middle Dandenong starts at the mouth of the small Heatherdale Creek just west of EastLink, and then flows meandrously to the south, joined by the Blind Creek (near Jells Park). It then crosses over to the east side of the EastLink, joined by the Corhanwarrabul Creek (at the Tirhatuan Wetlands), and then courses southeast towards the western edge of the Churchill National Park, crossing the namesaked Dandenong Valley Highway (Stud Road) in the process. After draining a series of greenspace reserves known as the Dandenong Valley Parklands, the creek reaches a former police paddock in Endeavour Hills and turns more southwardly again as the boundary between Dandenong North and Endeavour Hills. The riparian zones and associated runoff catchment surrounding the tri-suburban junction between Dandenong North, Dandenong and Doveton are known as the Dandenong Wetlands, which include a 0.8 km (0.5 mi) section of Heatherton Road just west of Monash Freeway that functions as a floodway. The creek then continues further south as the northern half of the boundary between Dandenong and Doveton.
• The Lower Dandenong starts just upstream of the Clow Street bridge in Dandenong East, where the creek becomes concrete-lined throughout almost its entire course within Dandenong. It first turns southwest at Dandenong Park, looping shortly northwest before crossing Princes Highway and the Pakenham/Cranbourne railway line, then continues further westwards south of the Dandenong town center until it picks up the Mile Creek (its last de jure tributary) about 350 m (380 yd) upstream of the Dandenong Bypass bridge. It then turns straight south again and courses alongside the EastLink's east side as the boundary between Dandenong South and Keysborough, crossing over to the west side of the EastLink again about 1 km (0.62 mi) before giving off Mordialloc Creek near the tri-suburban junction with Bangholme at the Perry Road bridge. It then flows southwest into Bangholme for another 1.4 km (0.87 mi) before reaching its confluence with the Eumemmerring Creek to form the partly man-made Patterson River, which continues southwest through Bangholme, Patterson Lakes, Bonbeach and Carrum and drains into the Beaumaris Bay, a small eastern bight of Port Phillip Bay north of the Mornington Peninsula.

Tributaries[edit]

• Dobson Creek (left) — headwaters in Sassafras, confluence in northern The Basin (near Liverpool Road Retarding Basin)
• Little Bungalook Creek (right) — headwaters in southern Kilsyth, confluence in southwestern Kilsyth South)
• Bungalook Creek (right) — headwaters in Montrose, joined by Tarralla Creek (headwaters in southern Croydon) in western Bayswater North, confluence in Heathmont
• Heatherdale Creek (right) — headwaters in southwestern Ringwood, confluence in eastern Vermont
• Blind Creek (left) — headwaters in Dandenong Ranges National Park, goes briefly underground in Ferntree Gully(around Belgrave line) and Wantirna South (under Westfield Knox), confluence in northwestern Scoresby (at Jells Park)
• Corhanwarrabul Creek (left) — headwaters in southern Ferny Creek (namesaked from the creek's upper section), joined by Monbulk Creek (headwaters in southern Kallista) between southern Knoxfield and northern Rowville, confluence in southwestern Rowville (at Tirhatuan Wetlands)
• Mile Creek (right) — headwaters from urban runoffs in northern Springvale, eastern Clayton and western Mulgrave, joined by Yarraman Creek (headwaters from two ponds/retarding basins in southern Noble Park North) in eastern Noble Park (near Yarraman railway station), confluence between southwestern Dandenong and eastern Keysborough
• Eumemmerring Creek (left) — headwaters in western Belgrave South, joined by numerous drains from the Lysterfield Lake, Hallam Main Drain (which drains parts of Berwick, Narre Warren, Narre Warren South, Hampton Park and Dandenong South) and Eastern Contour Drain (which drains parts of Sandhurst, Lyndhurst, Lynbrook and Dandenong South), confluence at Bangholme to form the Patterson River (near the Eastern Treatment Plant)

Distributary[edit]

• Mordialloc Creek — branching off the right bank of Dandenong Creek at the tri-suburban junction of Keysborough, Bangholme and Dandenong South (near Perry Road bridge), flowing west/northwest as the boundary between Keysborough, Bangholme, Waterways, Braeside and Aspendale Gardens, picking up the drainage runoff from the Smythes Drain, Waterways Lake and Lagoons, Dunlops Drain (formed from Old Dandenong Road Drain and Dingley Drain), Mordialloc Settlement Drain, Heatherton Drain and the Edithvale Wetlands Drain before emptying into Beaumaris Bay between Mordialloc and Aspendale.

Ecology[edit]

The series of open space reserves along the Dandenong Creek and its tributaries provide important habitat for many urban wildlife in the outer eastern/southeastern suburbs. The creek is also the home of one of the largest remaining populations of Yarra Gum,^[6] and a series of linear parks, nature reserves and wetlands are located along it. A bike path known as the Dandenong Creek Trail runs alongside for a significant distance.

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.^[7] An industrial wastewater stream known as Old Joes Creek flows into Dandenong Creek, with its confluence in Bayswater.^[8] This drain runs underground for much of its course, running in a westerly direction and servicing several industrial estates in the catchment of Dandenong Creek.^[9] The tributary is commonly contaminated with plastic litterings and heavy metals, and authorities have made several attempts to prevent pollution which spreads downstream into Dandenong Creek.^[10][11]

Creek crossings[edit]

The list below notes current bridges that cross over the Dandenong Creek. Some are road and rail bridges, whilst others are pedestrian and equestrian crossings.

Patterson River to Dandenong Valley Parklands[edit]

Crossing	Image	Coordinates	Built	Suburb	Description
Old Perry Road				Bangholme	Ruins of old Perry Road bridge over Dandenong Creek
Perry Road
EastLink			2008	Dandenong South
Greens Road
Unnamed creek crossing					Abandoned concrete-paved ford crossing
Dandenong Bypass			2008
EastLink Trail			2008	Dandenong	Low-water bridge
Allan Street
Hammond Road					Has a closely adjacent pedestrian footbridge downstream of the main bridge
Gippsland Railway bridge					Railway bridge carrying the Gippsland line
Lonsdale Street pedestrian bridge					Beam footbridge parallel to Lonsdale Street
Lonsdale Street					The crossing of the Princes Highway, locally named Lonsdale Street
Dandenong Creek Trail					Through arch footbridge
Dandenong Park footbridge
McCrae Street
Dandenong Workers Social Club footbridge					Footbridge between the Dandenong Workers Social Club and their golf course across the creek
Kidds Road
Heatherton Road				Dandenong North	Section west of Dandenong Creek also serves as floodway
Monash Freeway
Brady Road
Stud Road
Police Road Retarding Basin				Mulgrave	Causeway atop the basin embankment and floodgate, enabling pedestrian crossing
EastLink			2008
Wellington Road				Rowville

Dandenong Valley Parklands[edit]

Dandenong Valley Parklands to Mount Dandenong[edit]

Crossing	Image	Coordinates	Built	Suburb	Description
Boronia Road				Vermont
EastLink Trail					Section of the EastLink Trail linking Winton Wetlands with Campbells Croft Reserve
EastLink			2008	Ringwood
Wantirna Road
Marlborough Road footbridge				Heathmont	Footbridge at the end of Marlborough Road
H.E. Parker Reserve footbridge					Footbridge connecting the Dandenong Creek Trail with H.E. Parker Reserve
Belgrave railway line				Bayswater North
Tarralla Creek Trail
Bayswater Road
Dorset Road
Colchester Road				Kilsyth South
Liverpool Road Retarding Basin wall				Boronia	Path along basin wall provides crossing over the creek
Liverpool Road Retarding Basin footbridge					Footbridge inside the retarding basin provides crossing over the creek
Liverpool Road				The Basin
Dobson Lane					Dobson Lane
Pavitt Lane				Kilsyth
Sheffield Road
Edgar Track				Mount Dandenong
Doongalla Forest access road
Dandenong Creek Track				Olinda

See also[edit]

• List of rivers of Australia § Victoria

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Returning Dandenong Creek project
• First Friends of Dandenong Creek website
• "Info sourced on place names in the area". Knox Historical Society. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012.