The Burnett River rises in the Burnett Range, part of the Great Dividing Range, close to Mount Gaeta and east of
Monto. It drains a basin covering 33,210 km² which is 1.9% of the total area of Queensland.The Auburn River rises in the hills about 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of
Cracow, flows south before swinging to the north-east at its confluence with Johnson Creek, passing through the
Auburn River National Park, a little-known and untouched piece of pristine bush including Auburn Waterfall, and flows into the Burnett River west of Mundubbera.The Boyne River rises in the
Bunya Mountains National Park south-west of Kingaroy and flows in a general northerly direction, is dammed near Proston to form Lake Boondooma, emptying into the Burnett River near Mundubbera, only 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the Burnett River-Auburn River confluence. Construction of the
Paradise Dam on the Burnett River, 80 kilometres (50 mi) upstream from
Bundaberg, was completed in November 2005. The
dam reservoir has a capacity of 300,000 megalitres (6.6×1010 imp gal; 7.9×1010 US gal). Named after the old gold mining township of Paradise, which is now submerged under the waters of the reservoir, all of the structures and artefacts found at the site were transferred to the nearby town of Biggenden.