Warburton River is a freshwater stream in the far north of South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 that flows in a south westerly direction and discharges into the eastern side of Lake Eyre

Lake Eyre

Lake Eyre is the lowest point in Australia, at approximately below sea level, and, on the rare occasions that it fills, it is the largest lake in Australia and 18th largest in the world...

. It is one of the state's largest rivers, and is part of the Diamantina catchment

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

. It runs along the eastern side of the Simpson Desert

Simpson Desert

The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth largest Australian desert, with an area of 176,500 km² ....

, and drains water from Eyre Creek, Diamantina

Diamantina River

The Diamantina River is a river in south west Queensland and the far north of South Australia. Rising north-west of Longreach in the Swords Range, it flows in a south-westerly direction through central Queensland and the Channel Country to form the Warburton River at its confluence with the...

 and Georgina

Georgina River

The Georgina River is the north-westernmost of the three major rivers of the Channel Country in western Queensland that flow in extremely wet years into Lake Eyre.-Geography:...

 from Goyder Lagoon

Goyder Lagoon

Goyder Lagoon is a large ephemeral swamp in arid north-eastern South Australia. It is part of the Diamantina River floodplain, lying beside the Birdsville Track close to the state border with Queensland. Exceptionally large floods in the Georgina-Mulligan River system may contribute water to the...

, carrying it into Lake Eyre during its infrequent floods.

The river passes through a number of permanent and semi-permanent waterholes including Poothapootha waterhole, Emu Bone waterhole, Wurdoopoothanie waterhole and Kalawarranna soakage.

There are seven tributaries

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

of the river; Warburton Creek, Macumba River, Yelpawaralinna Creek and Derwent Creek.