Goonengerry Goodness

A variation on the St Helena – Federal – Clunes ride with a bit of extra climbing. Quite hilly with around 1500m climbing and a distance of 105km.

Start by heading north out of Ballina along Tamarind Drive and then onto Hinterland Way past the former Macadamia Castle, now Byron Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. Carry on along Hinterland Way through the village of Bangalow up to the St Helena Lookout.

Turn left at the St Helena Lookout onto Coolamon Scenic Drive and follow this towards Federal and Mullumbimby. At the crest at Coorabell, Coolamon Scenic Drive does a sharp right hand turn and continues uphill steeply for a short distance past Scarabeloti’s Lookout. There’s a great view here, but it’s frequently full of free campers.

Continue along this road towards Mullumbimby. The road follows the ridgeline here for about 5km with some fantastic views back towards the ocean and Byron Bay.

At about kilometre 41 there is a left turn onto Goonengerry Rd at the sign for the Crystal Castle. Turn here and follow the road through the rainforest down to the creek crossing and then up the other side towards Goonengerry.

This is one of the nicest bits of road in the area, climbing through the rainforest it’s very tranquil and picturesque.

The climb up from the creek to Goonengerry is quite a long, but when you get to the top the view is great. This is also the highest point of the ride at about 250m.

Head down from here through Goonengerry village and out the other side towards Federal. Keep an eye out for Repentance Creek Rd on the right at around kilometre 49. Turn here and follow Repentance Creek Rd down to the creek of the same name and back up the hill towards Rosebank where it becomes Rosebank Rd. Continue along Rosebank Rd to the bottom of the hill and a sharp left turn takes you into Corndale Rd.

At around kilometre 67, turn left into James Gibson Rd and follow that to the Lismore-Bangalow Rd, then turn right towards Clunes. The shop at Clunes is open 7 days.

Continue through Clunes towards Lismore and after about 1km, turn left into Johnston Rd down to Eltham. There is a nice old pub at Eltham if you need lunch or a beer! At the bottom of Johnston Rd turn left along Eltham Rd back towards Ballina (or right out of the pub).

Eltham Rd follows the old Casino to Murwillumbah railway across the flats and then up over a few hills back towards the coast. At the end of Eltham Rd (just after the Teven Golf Course) turn left and then take the first right into Teven Rd. This will bring you out at the BP Service Centre at the Ballina Interchange on the Pacific Motorway.

PLEASE NOTE: There is a shop at Federal, open 7 days. However, the road between Goonengerry and Federal is temporarily closed due to a landslide. Expected reopening in October 2023. There is a detour in place at Kings Road, which will take you to Whian Rd. Turn left to head back towards Eureka and Federal.

You can download a GPX file direct from Map My Ride®, just follow the link below.

Map My Ride Link