Casino to Bentley

Starting at the Historic Old Casino Railway Station, this section is 13.4km of scenic landscape and charming towns. A great asset to the region along the disused rail corridor ending at the Back Creek bridge in Bentley.

Casino is a reasonable size service centre located on the banks of the Richmond River. The town has a lot of well-kept older buildings from the 1800s with an unusually large concentration of well-preserved art deco buildings from the 1930s. A ride around town is an option alongside the trail.

Leaving the Old Casino Train Station, the trail runs along the edge of town before heading across farmland, including fully operational cattle stations, before joining the hill district near Naughtons Gap. Here, the trail incorporates expansive vistas of the rural Richmond Valley with its beautiful grazing lands laid out around you.

From this point of the trail, you’ll enter a mixture of pine and native gum trees where the incredible xanthorrhoea plants nestle under the cover of big gums. One of the features of this section is the curved Naughtons Gap rail tunnel, it’s curved design provides a unique habitat for endangered microbat species. Don’t forget to take in the stunning views of rural grazing lands from above.

Once past the tunnel, you’ll continue winding your way northeast through stunning hill country until the track crosses Bentley Road. This is where this section of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail ends and the Lismore Valley begins.