The Gellibrand River is a perennial river of the Corangamite catchment, located in the Otways region of the Australian state of Victoria.

Location and features

The Gellibrand River rises in the Otway Ranges in southwest Victoria, near the locality of Upper Gellibrand in the Beech Forest. The river flows in a highly meandering course generally west, and then south by west through the Great Otway National Park and Port Campbell National Park, joined by fourteen tributaries including the Carlisle River, before reaching its river mouth and emptying into the Great Australian Bight, at the locality of. From its highest point, the river descends 256 m over its 94 km course. In its upper reaches, the river is impounded by the West Gellibrand Dam.

Etymology

The river was named after Joseph Gellibrand, a solicitor and colonist from England. In 1844 George Allan, a pioneer pastoralist of the Allansford region, recovered what was widely regarded as the remains of Gellibrand near to the river and subsequently named it after him. Gellibrand had previously gone missing in the Otway region on an expedition in 1837. The local Gadubanud name for the river was Barrat.