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Aberfeldy River
The Aberfeldy is the last untamed river in the region, although only just! The Thomson Dam Project originally intended to put in a dam near the Donnellys Creek junction and pipe water across to the Thomson. However this never eventuated because of environmental and recreational pressures.
The north and south branches of the Aberfeldy River arise in steep, remote forests near Mt Useful and Mt Selma. From their confluence the river swings west, then south, running parallel to the Thomson River valley.
In the early gold mining era access to the Jordan River goldfields from Flooding Creek (now called Sale) was via Bald Hills (now called Seaton) and along McEvoys Track (now called Springs Road) and Maguires Track through a little settlement called Aberfeldy Crossing. Little remains of this now except for some blocks of freehold land along the valley.
One of those is at Cannons Town (now called Code's Flat) where the Code family have lived for many years, largely self-sufficient with food supplies, and educating their three children with the assistance of satellite communications. They sell produce such as honey and eggs at their front gate on Donnellys Creek Road, and run an extraordinary music museum which is open to visitors.
Further south is the former gold mining centre of Toombon, which was second to Walhalla in size and importance from 1870 to the early 1900s. Although operated for many years by various owners, the discontinuous nature of the ore-body made mining expensive, so that Toombon was never a very profitable operation. Many interesting relics remain here at the mine, down the gully at the township, and at the crushing plant site near the river. Several old buildings such as the Toombon Hotel have been restored as private residences.
Further south again is a huge pool in the river at the Donnellys Creek Junction. South from here, at Fultons Creek, and east along Donnellys Creek are many great 4WD tracks and campsites in gold mining heritage areas, also popular for fishing and gold panning.
Continuing south into the Baw Baw National Park, the narrow Walhalla-Matlock Road crosses the river at Aberfeldy Bridge where there is a pleasant campground with basic facilities. All of this was destroyed then rebuilt after the Great Divide Fires of 2006~07.
On a ridge above here is where a US fighter plane disappeared in 1942 and was not discovered until 1949. Many mysteries surrounded this incident, not being fully cleared up until the efforts of a local history enthusiast prompted a US Army site investigation in 2004.
The last few kilometres of the river continue through steep, inaccessible country until it flows into the Thomson River north-west of Walhalla at a junction normally seen by very few people.
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