Strzelecki Creek

Strzelecki Creek
A map of the Lake Eyre Basin showing the location of Strzelecki Creek.
Country	Australia
Basin features
River mouth	Lake Blanche 29°21′51″N 139°49′49″E / 29.364260°N 139.830150°E / 29.364260; 139.830150Coordinates: 29°21′51″N 139°49′49″E / 29.364260°N 139.830150°E / 29.364260; 139.830150
Physical characteristics
Length	200 kilometres (120 mi)

Strzelecki Creek is a river in the Australian state of South Australia located within the Lake Eyre basin. It is a distributary of Cooper Creek and branches off near the town of Innamincka and flows in a southerly direction thought the Strzelecki Desert for about 200 kilometres (120 mi) towards Lake Blanche. While being feed by the Cooper Creek, it does have its own catchment and can flow independently after ‘heavy localised storms.’ Flows on ‘exceptional’ occasions can reach Lakes Blanche, Callabonna, Frome and Gregory. Its watercourse is lined by trees, bordered by “large parallel sand ridges” and includes “a series of waterholes.”

It was named by the British explorer, Charles Sturt in 18 August 1845 after Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, the Polish scientist and explorer. Explorer Augustus Charles Gregory and his party found that following Strzelecki Creek proved to be the best way to travel through the interior from the Pacific to the Southern Ocean.

Parts of the creek system are preserved within the Strzelecki Regional Reserve and the Strzelecki Desert Lakes Important Bird Area comprises a series of ephemeral waterbodies which attract significant numbers of a range of bird species. The former pastoral lease property Tinga Tingana straddled the creek which also passes through Blanchewater Station.