The Hopkins River is a river in southwestern Victoria, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It begins near Ararat

Ararat, Victoria

Ararat is a city in south-west Victoria, Australia, about west of Melbourne, on the Western Highway on the eastern slopes of the Ararat Hills and Cemetery Creek valley between Victoria's Western District and the Wimmera...

, and enters Bass Strait

Bass Strait

Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...

 at Warrnambool

Warrnambool, Victoria

-Cityscape:The original City of Warrnambool was a 4x8 grid, with boundaries of Lava Street , Japan Street , Merri Street and Henna Street . In the nineteenth century, it was intended that Fairy Street – with its proximity to the Warrnambool Railway Station – would be the main street of...

. It is one of two rivers flowing through Warrnambool, the other is the Merri River

Merri River

The Merri River is a river in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is one of two rivers flowing through Warrnambool to Bass Strait, the other being Hopkins River.Its name is an Aboriginal word meaning rocky.-References:...

.

The major tributaries of the Hopkins are Mount Emu Creek

Mount Emu Creek

Mount Emu Creek is a long but small meandering waterway located in the west of Victoria. The total length of the Mount Emu Creek is over 250 kilometres. The creek forms near Trawalla, and Trawalla Creek flows to Mount Emu Creek , the quantity and quality of water from Trawalla Creek is of great...

 flowing for 250 km from north of Trawalla

Trawalla, Victoria

Trawalla is a town in central Western Victoria, Australia, located on the Western Highway, 41 km west of Ballarat and 154 km west of Melbourne, in the Shire of Pyrenees. At the 2006 census, Trawalla and the surrounding agricultural area had a population of 224.Trawalla sits at the...

 to its confluence upstream from
Allansford

Allansford, Victoria

Allansford is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. It is in the City of Warrnambool local government area. The Hopkins River flows through the town.-History:The Post Office opened on 1 January 1860...

, and Salt Creek the main outflow from Lake Bolac.

The river was named by Major Thomas Mitchell after a friend, Sir John Paul Hopkins, in 1836.