BARMAH HISTORY.

Barmah Town is situated around thirty kilometres north east of Echuca, or around two hundred kilometres north of Melbourne, Australia. The town is on the banks of the Murray River and a gateway to the Millewa/Barmah forests. In fact Barmah Town has the reputation of being the only town in Victoria north of the Murray River! Barmah is the ideal place to holiday and surely enjoy atypical Australia. Camping in the forests is free but there are sensible rules and regulations to adhere to.  So folks bring your camping gear and come and enjoy Barmah Town and the Mighty Murray River.

The Millewa/Barmah forests are triangular in shape and lie between Echuca, Deniliquin and Tocumwal the total area of the Millewa/Barmah forests is 65 thousand hectares. Combined these forests make up the single largest stand of river red gum anywhere in Australia or for that matter the world. Besides trees, the forests contain creeks, grassy plains, wetlands, sand ridges, lunettes and lakes. Running right through the forest is the Murray river. If you travelled through the forest by river the distance covered would be more than a 100 kilometres. Along the total length of the Murray river there are around 7000 wetlands. Inside the Millewa/barmah forests the total area of wetlands would exceed 10,000 hectares. Of the nearly 800 species of birds that can be found in Australia today over 220 species have been identified in these forests.

Some 25 thousand years ago a substantial earthquake occurred in this region. When the earthquake occurred the land moved and lifted a fault line formed, to day known as the Cadell tilt. The Cadell tilt effectively dammed the ancient Murray River causing a large lake system to form. The river initially formed a new course to the North and West around the top of the Cadell tilt. That is the Edwards River to day. After successive flooding some eight thousand years ago the Murray broke through to the south. When the Murray broke through to the south the large lake system drained and the river Red gum forests formed. To day we are left with those river Red gum forests, creeks, grassy plains, wetlands sand ridges lunettes and lakes. The remnants of the large lake system are the Barmah lake in Victoria and the Moria lake in New south Wales. Running right down between the two lakes is the Murray River and all that separates river from lakes are two thin strips of land either side of the river.

BARMAH MAP.