Myall Lakes

---

title: "Myall Lakes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lakes-of-new-south-wales", "ramsar-sites-in-australia", "mid-coast-council", "mid-north-coast"] description: "Lakes in New South Wales, Australia" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myall_Lakes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Lakes in New South Wales, Australia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox body of water"]

Field	Value
name	Myall Lakes
image	Myall lakes.JPG
caption	One of the lakes in the Myall Lakes National Park.
location	Mid North Coast
coords
inflow	Myall River
outflow	Myall River
basin_countries	Australia
date-built
date-flooded
agency	NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
designation	Ramsar-protected
area	9300 ha
elevation	0 m
pushpin_map	New South Wales#Australia
reference
embedded	{{Designation list
embed	yes
designation1	Ramsar
designation1_date	14 June 1999
designation1_number	994}}
::

| name = Myall Lakes | image = Myall lakes.JPG | alt = | caption = One of the lakes in the Myall Lakes National Park. | image_bathymetry = | alt_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = | location = Mid North Coast | coords = | lake_type = | inflow = Myall River | outflow = Myall River | catchment = | basin_countries = Australia | date-built = | date-flooded = | agency = NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service | designation = Ramsar-protected | length = | width = | area = 9300 ha | depth = | max-depth = | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = 0 m | frozen = | islands = | cities = | pushpin_map = New South Wales#Australia | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | website = | reference = | embedded = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Ramsar | designation1_date = 14 June 1999 | designation1_number = 994}} Myall Lakes, a series of fresh water lakes protected under the Ramsar Convention, are located within the Mid-Coast Council local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.

The Myall Lakes are adjacent to the east coast, about 250 km north of Sydney.

Features and location

There are three Myall Lakes, called Myall Lake, Boolambayte Lake and The Broadwater.

When full, Myall Lake covers an area of around 5800 ha; Boolambayte Lake covers an area of around 1100 ha; and Bombah Broadwater covers an area of around 2400 ha.

Smiths Lake is close to the northern Myall Lake, but is not connected nor formally part of the Myall Lakes. The lakes are partially interconnected and navigable by small craft. The Myall River flows into the western side of The Broadwater. The Myall River also flows out of The Broadwater and meanders southwest where it empties into Port Stephens between the towns of Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest. The lower Myall River progressively becomes saltier and more tidal as it flows southwards.

Most of the Myall Lakes are surrounded by the Myall Lakes National Park. The NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service operate a car ferry across the lake at Bombah Point. The area between the lakes and the sea is mainly uninhabited coastal woodlands and long isolated beaches although some of it was mined for heavy mineral sands before the 1970s. The village of Bungwahl is located on the northern shore of Myall Lake. There are a number of small islands in the lakes.

At the northern end of Myall Lake lies Mayers Point. This was the centre of a timber industry established by Allen Taylor and Company Limited. To assist in the transport of the logs from the forests to the lake, an extensive light railway system was constructed.

Due to the nature of Myall Lakes being coastal dune lakes, or coastal lagoons, they were featured in an American documentary about conservation done by producer Elam Stoltzfus.

References

References

1. "Map of Myall Lake, NSW". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia.
2. "Map of Boolambayte Lake, NSW". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia.
3. "Map of Bombah Broadwater, NSW". Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia.
4. "Myall Lakes".
5. Wright, H. J. (October 1982). "Mayers Point – Wootton – Horses Creek Timber Tramway". [[Australian Railway History.
6. "Coastal Dune Lakes · Welcome".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::