Such was the lushness of the grass, newly grown after the Aboriginal people had burnt away the old grass, that Sturt decided to rest the horses and men for a full day. The horses could eat their fill here as they had not done for many days. He described the area surrounding the creek he would later name for Judge Cooper. Not only was the grass lush, the trees were large and imposing, reflected in the large sheets of water. A smaller tributary creek joined the main stream a little further upstream.

Cooper Creek is one of the largest river systems in Australia, but it is not a permanently filled one. While its tributary sources rise in the Great Dividing Range of eastern Australia and receive tropical rains, by the time the river, variously called the Barcoo or Cooper Creek, has reached South Australia it has also reached the central desert regions of Australia. It breaks up into many meandering channels, hence the name Channel Country. The Cooper is considered an ephemeral river and in many years ceases to flow at all. However when mighty floods pour downstream the Cooper Creek reaches Lake Eyre and if there is sufficient water coming down it can result in the flooding of Lake Eyre and in rare years, even a great filling of the salt lake.