Crows Nest - Highfields District  of the Toowoomba Region lies along the Great Dividing Range just to the north of Toowoomba city. It covers an area of 167,200 ha, of which approximately two thirds lies within the upper Brisbane River catchment flowing east to the Pacific Ocean, and the other third in the Murray-Darling Basin catchment flowing to the Southern Ocean off South Australia. Although most of land within the Shire is devoted to rural pursuits, over three-quarters of the population within the DistrictD live in an urban environment.