Dobson River (New Zealand)
Template:Short description Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox river The Dobson River (Template:Langx)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is a river in the South Island of New Zealand. It flows south between the Neumann and Ohau ranges for Template:Convert from its source on the west slope of Mount Edgar Thomson,<ref name=NZGB>Dobson River, New Zealand Gazetteer, Retrieved 26 December 2024.</ref> in the Southern Alps, before joining with the Hopkins River, close to the latter's entry into the northern end of Lake Ōhau in the Mackenzie Country.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The river flows over wide shingle beds, and has no rapids of interest to whitewater enthusiasts.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was named by Julius von Haast in the 1860s for his father-in-law, Edward Dobson, who was the Canterbury Provincial Engineer.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Māori name, also given as Otao in some works, means "driftwood," and has also been applied to the Hopkins River into which the Dobson/Ōtaao flows.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The New Zealand Department of Conservation maintains a tramping track and several backcountry huts in the river valley.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Two of the huts are accessible by 4WD vehicle.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
There is no direct geographical link with the West Coast town of Dobson.