Bellingen
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The Basics
Bellingen is a spectacular town located midway between Brisbane and Sydney, about 15kilometres inland from the Pacific Highway. 30 minutes south of Coffs Harbour and 20 minutes north of Nambucca Heads.
Population of around 3000 people with more outlying residents in the valleys - including Kalang, Thora, Gleniffer.
Bellingen is a quiet alternative country town with stunning scenery, a fantastic river with many many swimming holes, lots of great activities and sights, and fantastic coffee at the towns' many cafes. The monthly markets are a colourful way to see the town come to life.
More information on services and facilities can be found at http://www.bellingen.com or Wikipedia
Bellingen is not a 'tourist' town. So if you're visiting, make sure you support the local businesses by buying a coffee or some local produce - every bit counts.
Key Races
No key races known.
Running Tracks
There are no tracks in Bellingen, although there are several playing fields that can be used for speed work. O'Connell Park (Hyde Street) on the entry to Town - large well maintained playing field. Bellingen Football Oval, follow directions to the Markets and you will find a regular sized League Oval, a bit more shade here than on O'Connell Park. Both the High School and the Primary School have useful playing fields that can be accessed outside school hours.
Places to run
Bellingen is a great place to run with nothing in mind except the joy of running. The many bush tracks are well maintained for the rural fire brigade and a local map available from the newsagent will provide locale information.
Run 1 - Cemetary & Blackbutt Trail - around 7.5km
From town, cross from the main street to North Bellingen via Lavendars Bridge, continue up Wheatley Street to the roundabout and Providor (shop) then head up Lyons Road to the Cemetary. Go straight through the Cemetary to the northern corner and you will see a 20m single track trail leading through to a fire trail. Now here is where is gets great!
Turn left and head off along the fire trail. You will be on a fairly clear one lane bush trail with a nice steep hill to get you started. Follow the trail until you come up (again) to a fork where the left trail goes along side a private property and the right option is a grassy fire trail. Both will get you back to the same point, but this run takes the right hand option - Blackbutt Trail (see sign). The trail is quite shady and the surrounds are definitely the sub tropics that Bellingen is famous for. Cicada's can make a racket, but from here on in the next 1.5 - 2km are just following the grassy trail and enjoying the bush. A few more sharp hills in here to keep you in shape. At a point where you feel you may be heading away from town for just a little too long, you will come across a single track heading off to the left (there's a picture coming). Take this one, and again, enjoy the undulating track through the green bush land. This section of track opens out to a wider fire trail, but is still grassy, not dirt like the start. Stay going straight ahead with the trail, and don't take a right turn that pops up along the way. Keep following the loop around as you're now heading back towards the start of the trail. Blackbutt trail heads down and to the left as you go down towards a creek crossing next to a broken bridge. It's worth slowing here and checking to see if there's any magical creatures around - it's like something out of Lord of the Rings near the creek. No water was flowing, so the creek crossing is really a gully, then you head back up for another steep hill, which keeps going straight up, past the original private property fence line, and you are back on the steep dirt trail to head back to the Cemetary. Don't forget that it's down and back up then to the right before the single track into the cemetary reveals itself. Head back to Town the way you came and jump in the river to cool down, or have someone meet you at the cemetary car park!
There are no KM markings and the distance of this run is an estimate only.
The only water available is a free tap on the log fence at the top of the cemetary and the water is very drinkable town water. If you are heading out on longer trails, it's highly advisable to take water with you. It can get very hot.
I am a 46min 10km runner and this trail (from the shop only) took me 32minutes to run on a cool morning. In the heat (35degrees) it was a fair bit longer and I swear the hills had grown.
Bellingen does have some fantastic native fauna. You may come across some snakes (although the five times I've done this one, we only saw a 1m long whip snake run off a way ahead), pay attention to what's in front of you and avoid treading on anything that has a red belly and a black back ;-)
Dogs are permitted in the State Forest and love this track - it's great to take them to absorb the spider webs and scare off any snakes before you get there.
Keep an eye out for local horse riders and mountain bikers who may also use the trail (I didn't see any on my runs, but rode the trails on horse with a local). Local young trail bike riders may also make an appearance, but you will hear them coming.
Running Clubs & Groups
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Places to buy Running gear incl. shoes
There are no real sports shops in Bellingen. Coffs Harbor is the nearest big retail centre with several decent bike stores. I sampled Ventoux Bikes near Park Beach Plaza who were well stocked with electrolyte and gels with quite a bit of triathlon kit also.
Medical & Doctors
Bellingen has a local hospital and ambulance service. There are several GPs operating in business hours.
