The Clyde River is a river on the south coast

South Coast, New South Wales

The South Coast refers to the narrow coastal belt from Sydney in the north to the border with Victoria in the south in the south-eastern part of the State of New South Wales, Australia. It is bordered to the west by the coastal escarpment of the Southern Tablelands, which is largely covered by a...

 of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, 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...

. The river was known to Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 as the Bhundoo.

The Clyde rises in the Budawang Mountains about 30 kilometers inland from the coast behind Milton

Milton, New South Wales

Milton is a town in the City of Shoalhaven on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia, not far from Ulladulla. It was founded in the middle of the 19th century...

. It flows generally southwards parallel to the coast, before turning east and entering the sea at Batemans Bay

Batemans Bay, New South Wales

- Media :Radio Stations*East Coast Radio 2EC *Power FM NSW South Coast - POWER FM from Nowra can also be received in parts of Batemans Bay on FM 94.9....

. The lower reaches of the Clyde form a substantial estuary which is navigable by small vessels to Nelligen

Nelligen, New South Wales

Nelligen is a village on the Clyde River on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Kings Highway.-Location and services :The village is situated on the western bank of the River near a junction with Nelligen Creek,...

.

The river was named after the River Clyde

River Clyde

The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....

 in Glasgow, UK, by Lieutenant Robert Johnson  who navigated the river aboard the cutter Snapper on 1 December 1821.
The Clyde River National Park

Clyde River National Park

Clyde River is a national park in south-eastern New South Wales between Batemans Bay and Nelligen. The park includes 9 km of river frontage to the Clyde River, bounded on three sides by the Clyde River and on the northeast side by the Kings Highway...

includes the lower reaches of the Clyde.

Water quality of the basin is very good. The upper catchment is heavily forested (State Forest and National Park); there is a small amount of logging in the Yadboro State Forest. There are no polluting industries in its catchment, nor any sewage outflows, and thus the river has a reputation for the cleanest, least polluted waters of any major river in Eastern Australia.

The river is one of the last major rivers in Eastern Australia that has not been dammed.