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Casino, NSW, 2470

Beef Capital

If Kyogle is the gateway to the rainforests, then Casino is the gateway to the Australian bush (backcountry or countryside to our North American and European visitors), with access to the national parks of the northern tablelands Granite Belt, via the Great Dividing Range to the west, where you'll find many of the region's wilderness retreats.

Strategically located at the junction of the Bruxner Highway and Summerland Way and sitting astride the upper reaches of the Richmond River, Casino is the rail and freight hub for the far north coast of New South Wales, and best known as a beef production and agricultural centre, with two major agricultural shows mid year.

Summerland Way

It's also a primary stopover on the Summerland Way, the alternative inland route between Brisbane and Coffs Harbour.  This is the country beyond the coast, and some say, "the Real Australia".

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Accommodation in Casino and nearby

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Along the Summerland Way, the adventurous traveller can experience a diverse range of scenery; from beaches to rugged mountain ranges, savanna and timber plantations, eucalypt and rainforests, dotted with a wide variety of farming activities.

Accommodation

Accommodation is limited mainly to hotels, motels and caravan parks, with a growing base of farmstays offering a wilderness retreat experience, in the rural settlements and larger land holdings.

Attractions

The annual Casino Beef Week in late May, is one of the premier pastoral events on the Australian livestock calendar, with exhibitors from all over eastern Australia attending.  The adjacent Primex agricultural expo focuses on farm and agricultural machiney trade exhibits, workshops and presentations.

The town also offers excellent year round recreational activities and facilities, with golf, cricket, soccer, basketball and horse racing popular, and inland fishing available at nearby Toonumbar Dam.

A variety of parks offer picnic facilities, and a skate park and BMX track, on the corner of Centre and Light Streets offers a great recreational area for visiting and resident riders, with the local BMX club offering an active events calendar, including the annual Crankfest.

The Casino Folk Museum is open each Wednesday from 1.30pm-4pm and on Sunday from 10am-4pm.  With a comprehensive collection of articles and materials showing the origns of Casino and the lifestyle of early residents.  Milliners will enjoy a magnificent hat collection, and visitors will find time passes quickly as you take a a stroll down memory lane time here.

Jabiru Geneebinga Wetlands

The Jabiru Geneebinga Wetlands, on the corner of west St and Queensland Rd, is a sanctuary for native birds and wildlife, with picnic facilities and public toilets.

It's also home to the local mini railway club which runs on every Sunday between 10 am and 4 pm, on public holiday weekends and throughout Casino Beef Week.

There are plans to exrtend the mini rail to include a stop at the old Casino Rail Station, as part of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail - Richmond Valley facilities.

Old Casino Train Station  New

Opening in 1903, the station served as the town's primary station until 1930 and remained in operation until 1974.

After sitting abandoned for several years, the stations main building was reimagined as the Old Casino Station Museum.

Entered in the New South Wales heritage register as a place of state significance in 1999, the building survives as an important Federation style weatherboard station, and is now the Trail head for the Richmond Valley section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail.

Drives and Walks

Casino Tourist Information Centre can provide a range of self guided tourist drive information sheets for the area, ranging from 2 hours to a full day.

Richmond Range National Park is accessible from Mallanganee west of Casino.

Famous for the Cambridge Plateau Forest Drive, which runs the entire length of the park from south to north, this convenient dry weather tour of the World Heritage listed rainforest, features a number of spectacular lookouts.

The Cambridge Plateau Picnic Area is at the southern end of the drive and has day visitor facilities.  Here, you can take a short 500 metre stroll on a formed track, or a longer 2.5 klm two-hour loop hike along the Culmaran Valley.

Northern Rivers Rail Trail - Richmond Valley New

Completed in late March 2024, the Richmond Valley section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail is a 13.4 km dual trail that meanders from Casino to Bentley.

Starting at the heritage-listed Old Casino Train Station, the Richmond Valley section features a newly established bridle path parallel to the main trail, providing horse riders with a seperate set path to enjoy the trail.  There are some shared sections, and car parking with trailer spaces for horse floats is available at Naughtons Gap Road and Bentley Road car parks.  Horse riders must get a permit before enjoying the trail.

Extensive native tree and shrub planting, weed control, and landscaping along the rail corridor is designed to improve local biodiversity, native habitat, and local amenity, while also providing a safe and level transport route for walking and cycling from Casino and outlying rural communities.

Aboriginal Culture in the Valley

The Aboriginal culture in the [Richmond] Valley is evident in many aspects, including many bora rings. Casino was an important centre. A bora ring more than twice the diameter of the average ring was found just north of the town. However, the site was destroyed for land fill in 1976.

In the Broadwater area there is a bora ring approximately three kilometres northwest of Bagotville and another east of Cook’s Hill on Pine Tree Road. About ten kilometres south west of Coraki is Bora Ridge, much of which has been destroyed. A fine bora ring which is cared for by the NPWS has been preserved in the grounds of Tucki General Cemetery on the Woodburn to Lismore Rd.

Jambama Arts Centre

Jambama Artists have a range of Aboriginal professional artists who produce high quality paintings, teaching their culture and their heritage. The Gallery displays a wide range of original and creative products that express and reflect the local Aboriginal culture and talent.

47 Cassino Drive, Casino Industrial Estate, Casino NSW 2470 Tel: (02) 6662 6672. <Source - Aboriginal culture in the Valley - http://www.casino.nsw.au/richmond-valley>

Getting to Casino

Road

Getting here.  Located 709 km north of Sydney and 263 km south of Brisbane, Casino is about 12 hours drive north from Sydney and about 2 hours drive south from Brisbane, via the Pacific Highway.  The Summerland Way from Sydney via Coffs Harbour, offers an alternative pretty inland route in NSW.

Other driving options include the New England Highway via Tenterfield in New South Wales, and the inland Mount Lindesay Highway route from Queensland.

Air

Domestic flights operate from all capital cities to Ballina/Byron Gateway Airport (approx. 66 klm) and Gold Coast Airport (approx. 134 klm) at Coolangatta. A number of international carriers servicing SE Asia, New Zealand and the Pacific fly into Gold Coast Airport.

Daily airport transfer services between Ballina/Byron Gateway Airport and Gold Coast Airport, are available to selected localities in the region, with some also going to Brisbane International Airport.

Intrastate flights are also available to Lismore Airport (approx. 32 klm), with all airports having airport car hire or other car rental services available nearby.

Coach/Rail

Daily interstate coach services are available from Casino to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, and daily or overnight train service is available from Sydney to Brisbane at Casino.

Getting Around

Local bus services operate between Casino, Lismore and Kyogle, and Tenterfield on the Northern Tablelands.

References and Readings
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