The Mitchell River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the Atherton Tableland about 50 kilometres (31 mi) northwest of Cairns and flows about 750 kilometres (470 mi) northwest across Cape York Peninsula from Mareeba to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The river's watershed covers an area of 71,757 km2 (27,706 sq mi). The Mitchell River has the state's largest discharge, at 11.3 million megalitres (2.5×1012 imp gal; 3.0×1012 US gal) annually, but is intermittent and may be dry for part of the year. Lake Mitchell is the main water storage facility on the river.