So you live in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales and want to take your dirt bike for a ride? Well, we’ve found some of the best riding spots around.
Frontaer has done the research and seen where the locals are riding. Those in Byron Bay, Ballina, Bangalow, Lismore, west to Casino and even as far south as Coffs Harbour. There are dirt bike owners in all these towns who know where to ride.
As with anywhere you ride:
- Wear all your protection gear including a good set of riding boots.
- Be respectful of others using the tracks and local land owners.
- It can get seriously hot in summer so pack plenty of water.
- You may need to take additional fuel for your motorcycle.
- And finally – take a safety-first perspective and don’t ride alone.
So let’s get started.
Northern Rivers: Where to Ride Dirt bikes
It’s a shame a lot of the tracks have been closed down due to the hippies in the rainbow region. However, we’ve really dug to find out some top quality riding tracks that you can follow. In most cases, you will need to haul your dirt bike with a ute, van or on the back of a trailer.
We’ll break down this guide into several sections so you can get a fair idea on what’s local for you.
Byron Bay
There isn’t really anywhere to ride a dirt bike in Byron Bay given the high number of tourists that come into town. There isn’t even a motocross track in town because it’s all made way for development. Our advice? You’ve gotta get out of town.
Go to Lennox Head and you can get a beach permit to ride your dirt bike. From there ride south towards Iluka all the way.
Ballina
Head over to the Surf Shack Farm/Moto Retreat. It’s pretty well the best place in the Northern Rivers to let loose on a dirt bike even if it’s unregistered. This place is mad! The sorta place you’d bring a bunch of mates to for a weekend trip.
It’s located about 15 minutes south and you may want to take the ferry.
Lismore
There are places to ride dirt bikes once you get outside of town. Look for the unsealed roads and 4×4 tracks. Bungabee for instances is a good spot. Head over to the Kyogle Dirt Bike Club if you’re unregistered.
They run regular enduro races for both kids and adults, as well as organized group rides for casual fun offroad. One option if ou don’t want to be apart of the club is to head around Woodburn. There are some great forestry tracks down that way.
Murwillumbah
You can ride through some of the unsealed roads in the area. Private land owners may also let you ride on their land provided you source permission first.
There is talk of having an MX club opened in Murwillumbah but the greenies have stopped it multiple times.
Casino
Casino has an evolved dirt bike riding community and one of the better places across the Northern Rivers region of NSW to ride a dirt bike.
There is a group of riders that meets regularly as well as another group of MX riders. Put your name out there in some of the local Facebook groups and you’ll find some great connections.
Coffs Harbour
There are numerous dirt bike stores and riding tracks around Coffs Harbour. Head up into the hills and follow the following 4×4 tracks:
- Yaraygir National Park. Only licensed riders on registered motorbikes are permitted to ride on public roads within NSW public lands including Yuraygir National Park and the Orara East State Forest.
- Take the Boambee Beach run. Yes – you can ride registered dirt bikes on the beach here. Registered motorbikes and licensed riders are permitted on North Beach, Boambee Beach, Woolgoola Back Beach and Station Creek Beach
- Take the Sawtell to Gangalore Falls route through the rainforest. Will take 2 hours.
- Do a Coramba loop via Bella Spur Rd and Battery Rd which also takes about 2 hours on trail bikes. This proposed route is via Nana Creek State Forest and Bindarri National Park for licensed riders on registered motorbikes only.
- Ride along the Platypus Flat Trail. Essentially you start in Coffs Harbour and go offroad all the way to Nymboi-Binderay National Park
- For a real adventure bike challenge, ride the Rover and Commando Trails. Not for the faint-hearted but definitely very scenic. Mount Coramba, Rover Trail and Commando Trail in Orara East State Forest are managed by Forestry Corporation NSW. Only licensed riders on registered motorbikes are permitted to ride on public roads within NSW public lands.
- And for the ultimate adventure, the Mount Coramba route is a challenge both up and down. You’ll ascend 500m+ over the 23km route to the top of the mountain.
As these are public roads, you may come across 4×4 users during your ride.
Tweed Heads
There was talk of trying to get an MX track officially opened in the Tweed Heads region but this hasn’t eventuated as yet. The Tweed Shire Council was working on it with the Tweed Valley Junior Development Motorcycle Club but as with all things, they like to drag it out.
The best option is to build a private little dirt track on your own land.
Mooball National Park
You can take registered dirt bikes into Mooball National Park which is just west of Cudgera Creek which is north of Mullumbimby.
Only licensed riders on registered motorbikes are permitted to ride on Cooradilla Road within Mooball
National Park. Cooradilla Road is a single lane road with several blind bends, so take it slow in the corners.
Bundjalung National Park
Only licenced riders on registered motorbikes are permitted on the public access roads within
Bundjalung National Park. This includes The Gap Road, Bundjalung Street, Bluff Road, Back Beach
Road, Woody Head Road, Frazers Reef Road. All other management trails do not permit motorised
vehicles. There is no legal access for motorbikes to enter/exit the beach from Black Rocks
campground via The Gap Road.
This is a great spot for a weekend adventure. You can go camping at multiple spots including Black Rock and Woody Head. Stay on the defined access tracks and look out for other road users. This route takes you almost down to Yamba.
Only licenced and registered riders can ride on the beach between Shark Bay and Black
Rocks campground. Riders are also required to have a beach permit from Clarence Valley Council.
For more information and free maps please refer to information at the following webpage
https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/Sports-and-recreation/Beaches
Grafton
There are multiple good tracks in the Grafton area. Join the South Grafton Motorcycle Club or simply find some of these tracks yourself.
A lot of the unsealed roads such as Old Glen Innes Road and Tommys Trail are perfect. Terrain is typical open and fast-flowing gravel tracks.
Other places in the Northern Rivers
Our recommendations are that you head north. Getting up past Brisbane opens up the Sunshine Coast which has some great spots.
Likewise there are a few moto parks west of the Gold Coast worth checking out. You pay an entry fee and can ride your unregistered dirt bike or quad bike all day long.
With most dirt bike trips, it’s worth packing your camping gear and going for a multi-day adventure. Just find a new riding spot every day.
In summary
We hope this has shown you some of the best trail and adventure motorcycle tracks around the Northern Rivers region. Have you got any more tracks to add to this list? Then let us know in the comments below.
