[1] Hodgson Vale is 12 kilometres (7 mi) south of the city centre via New England Highway.

[3] Hodgson Creek rises just to the north (Top Camp) and flows through the locality to the south-west (Cambooya).

It eventually becomes a tributary of the Condamine River (part of the Murray-Darling basin) at North Branch.

[3][4] The locality is believed to be named for Sir Arthur Hodgson, a pioneer and member for the Legislative Assembly seat of Warrego in 1868–1869.

The Eton Vale homestead was beside Hodgson Creek in the present day locality of Cambooya.