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.