The town is situated on the Dorrigo Plateau near the New England Escarpment,[5] which is part of the Great Dividing Range.

The first official European in the district was Land Commissioner Oakes who sighted the mouth of the Bellinger River.

[5] Richard Craig, an escaped convict from the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement,[5][9] was the first European to reach the Dorrigo Plateau, following the traditional indigenous route to Armidale from the Grafton area.

[9] Timbergetters followed Craig through the sub tropical rainforest and many sawmills grew due to demand for timber, initially the highly prized Australian Red Cedar (Toona australis).

[10] On 31 October 2005, sixty-eight dairy cows, all in full milk, died on a farm at Fernbrook on the Waterfall Way near Dorrigo after being struck by lightning.

The cows were sheltering under a tree when it was struck by lightning and the electricity spread onto the surrounding soil killing the animals.

A full listing of attractions are available here Dangar Falls are located about 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) north of Dorrigo, on the Bielsdown River.

The Dorrigo War Memorial is a stone column in the centre of the intersection of Waterfall Way and Hickory Street.

The names of Servicemen and women and dedications from the Second World War are carved on plaques attached to the original stonework.

[19] The final edition was published in late June 2023, with the owners announcing the paper's closure on 4 July 2023.

Another Bureau of Meteorology site located at Dorrigo Post Office recorded 774.7 millimetres (30.50 in) of rain within the same 24-hour period to 9 am on 21 February 1954.

[29] These heavy rainfall totals were associated with a tropical cyclone which had crossed the coast at Coolangatta and Tweed Heads late on 20 February 1954.