Coffs Harbour to Ballina road trip: Drive distance & best stops
Coffs Harbour to Ballina drive: Bundjalung National Park and Evans Head
If skipping Yamba, the next highlight of the Coffs Harbour to Ballina road trip is Bundjalung National Park. Here, you can go canoeing on the Esk and Evans Rivers, make a photo stop at the Iluka Bluff Lookout or walk the 6km Jerusalem Creek Peninsula track from the Black Rocks campground.
There’s also a decision to make at Woodburn – keep going along the highway or turn off for delightful beach town Evans Head. Go the highway route, and it’s a pretty uneventful drive into Ballina. Go via Evans Head, and you can learn about WWII pilot training at the Evans Head Heritage Aviation Museum then tackle Broadwater National Park. A 30km beach runs up the side of it, called various names along its length. These include Airforce Beach, Evans Head Beach, Broadwater Beach and Patches Beach.
The beach runs as far as the mouth of the Richmond River. The Burns Point ferry will take you over the river into Ballina.
Things to do in Ballina include private surfing lessons and half day walking tours along the coast.
Where to stay in Ballina
The top Ballina accommodation options are:
- For charm and personality: Ballina Manor Boutique Hotel.
- For a holiday park with family-sized cabins and lots kid-friendly facilities: Discovery Parks Ballina.
- For a relatively cheap, good quality motel: Almare Tourist Motel.
- For riverside location: Ramada Hotel and Suites.
More New South Wales travel
What to see on the Taree to Coffs Harbour drive.
How long is the drive from Quirindi to Tamworth?
What’s the Australian Museum parking situation like?
The best stops on the Yamba to Byron Bay drive.
Stay with the kangaroos at the NRMA Murramarang holiday park.