The Paterson River, a tributary of the Hunter River, is a significant river in the Hunter Region of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Its headwaters are in the Barrington Tops National Park

Barrington Tops National Park

Barrington Tops is a National Park in the Hunter Valley, approximately north of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The nearest towns are Scone, Singleton, Dungog, Gloucester and East Gresford....

 and it flows to join the Hunter River between Hinton

Hinton, New South Wales

Hinton is a suburb of the Port Stephens Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Primarily rural, the largest population centre is the township of Hinton, which is situated on the Paterson River, near to the confluence of the Hunter and Paterson rivers.-Floods:Due...

 and Morpeth

Morpeth, New South Wales

Morpeth is a suburb of the City of Maitland Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern banks of the Hunter River at the border between the City of Maitland and Port Stephens Council LGAs...

. Between Hinton and Duns Creek

Duns Creek, New South Wales

Duns Creek is a rural residential suburb in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, located near the historic village of Paterson in the north-western corner of the Port Stephens Council Local Government Area....

 it forms the border between the Port Stephens and Maitland Local Government Area.

Colonel William Paterson surveyed the area along the river in 1801. Later Governor King

Philip Gidley King

Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...

 named it in his honour.

The river system courses through fertile the farming land of the Paterson and Allyn River Valleys and the historic Patersons Plains

Paterson, New South Wales

Paterson is a small township in the lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. Located within Dungog Shire it is situated on the Paterson River. At the 2006 census, Paterson had a population of 345 people...

. Lostock Dam

Lostock Dam

Lostock Dam is a high, earth and rock filled embankment dam on the Paterson River, approximately north-west of Newcastle in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Paterson River is a tributary of the Hunter River...

, 48 kilometres (30 mi) downstream from the source

Source (river or stream)

The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:There is no universally agreed upon definition for determining a stream's source...

 in the Barringtons, was constructed by the New South Wales Department of Water Resources to supply water for irrigation and was completed in 1971. The river is tidal to above the village of Paterson and below Vacy. The Allyn River

Allyn River

The Allyn River is a river of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It originates in the World Heritage Barrington Tops region, flowing through Antarctic Beech high altitude rainforest. And then through lower altitude sub tropical rainforest including trees such as Red Cedar and Small leaf...

, a tributary of the Paterson, joins the main river at Vacy.

Riverside towns within the Paterson's catchment include Gresford, Vacy

Vacy, New South Wales

Vacy is a rural locality of the Dungog Shire Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated between Gresford and Paterson, the village of Vacy was founded in the 1820s as a private town by John Cory, the owner of a large land grant. Vacy began to prosper in the...

, Paterson

Paterson, New South Wales

Paterson is a small township in the lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. Located within Dungog Shire it is situated on the Paterson River. At the 2006 census, Paterson had a population of 345 people...

, Woodville

Woodville, New South Wales

Woodville is a very small township in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia that is shared between the Port Stephens and Maitland Local Government Areas...

 and Hinton

Hinton, New South Wales

Hinton is a suburb of the Port Stephens Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Primarily rural, the largest population centre is the township of Hinton, which is situated on the Paterson River, near to the confluence of the Hunter and Paterson rivers.-Floods:Due...

.