Hastings River

The Hastings River is a large river on the Mid North Coast of the Australian state of New South Wales that empties into the Tasman Sea, a branch of the South Pacific Ocean, at Port Macquarie.

The river rises about seven kilometres south west of Kemps Pinnacle in Werrikimbe National Park on the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range.

It runs south to Fernleigh, where it then runs east to the coast at Port Macquarie.

The river was first charted by European explorers in 1818, after its discovery by John Oxley who named the river for the then Governor-General of India, Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings.

Tributaries of the Hastings River include the Forbes River, Doyles, Ellenborough and Thone Rivers.

A number of settlements exist near the river:

• Ellenborough
• Long Flat
• Port Macquarie - situated at the mouth of the Hastings River
• Wauchope

The Hastings River gives its name to a surrounding wine district and to an endangered species of mammal, the Hastings River Mouse (Pseudomys oralis).

Fishing opportunities on the Hastings River exist for freshwater bass and catfish in the upper reaches to estuarine species such as bream, flathead and luderick near the entrance.