Bellingen - NSW

Bellengen is a town of about 3,000 people on the Bellenger River inland from the coastal centre of Urunga. It is reached by The Waterfall Way as that highway winds its way along the Bellenger Valley and up the Great Dividing Range to Dorrigo.

The first European arrived in the area in 1840. He was followed by timber cutters seeking local cedar, who set up their saw pits along the river. The town site was selected in 1864.

The substantial commercial centre is of mainly older buildings but with the type of modern amenities sought by tourists who day trip from the centers on the coast, such as Coffs Harbour. The town services a substantial farming community. The river flats provide prime dairying country.