Hughenden, Queensland

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Hughenden (/hjuːəndən/) is a rural town and locality in the Flinders Shire, Queensland, Australia. It is the seat of the Flinders Shire. In the 2021 census, the locality of Hughenden had a population of 1,113 people.

Hughenden is situated on the banks of the Flinders River.

Hughenden has the following mountains (from west to east):

Hughenden is located on the Flinders Highway, 376 kilometres (234 mi) west of Townsville and 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) north-west of Brisbane, the state capital. The region around Hughenden is a major centre for the grazing of sheep and cattle. The main feed is annual grasses known as Flinders grass, which grow rapidly on the (by Australian standards) fertile grey or brown cracking clay soils after rain between November and March. However, because the rainfall is extremely erratic – at Hughenden itself it has ranged from 126 millimetres (5 in) in 1926 to 1,051 millimetres (41 in) in 1950 – droughts and floods are normal and stock numbers fluctuate greatly.

The runoff from the Flinders River is much too erratic to provide a sustainable supply for any crop-growing via irrigation.

Hughenden is on the Great Northern railway line with a number of railway stops in the locality (from west to east):

Hughenden was a terminus for the former Hughenden-Winton railway line with the following rail stops in the locality (north to south):