Summerland Way starts south of the Queensland border to Woodenbong, then heads in a southerly direction through Kyolge, Casino, and Whiporie to eventually reach Grafton on the Clarence River.

9) from near Woodenbong to the state border with Queensland (and continuing southwest via Tenterfield, Glen Innes, Tamworth, Singleton, Newcastle, Gosford, Peat's Ferry and Hornsby to North Sydney),[2] Main Road No.

151 was declared from Casino via Myrtle Creek to the intersection with Gwydir Highway at South Grafton,[2] on the same day, 8 August 1928.

The southern end of Main Road 151 was later extended from South Grafton via Glenreagh to the jetty at Coffs Harbour on 16 March 1938.

[11][12] Against the wishes of the Beaudesert Shire Council and the Woodenbong Chamber of Commerce,[13] the former alignment of New England Highway from Tenterfield through Beaudesert to Brisbane was re-declared Mount Lindesay Highway,[11][12] after Mount Lindesay, the residue of a solidified magma core, that is part of the Mount Warning volcanic area and is situated in the western extreme of Border Ranges National Park.

[15] Summerland Way was consequently extended north 9.4 km along the alignment of the former highway to meet the Queensland end of Mount Lindesay Highway at the state border, and the eastern end of Mount Lindesay Road was truncated at the intersection with Summerland Way just east of Woodenbong.

[3] The new route bypasses the Grafton city centre and avoids the low 3.5m clearance rail bridge over Prince Street.

During World War II the road was improved as an inland, flood-free route to Brisbane which avoided the problems associated with the Clarence River and its two ferry crossings.

In the 1860s cedar cutters arrived and for the next thirty years tree felling and sawmilling were the district's most important industries.

[24] European settlement along the Richmond River had reached the area where Casino now stands in the early 1850s, when a village known as “The Falls” was established on the northern side.

In 1876 a bridge across the Richmond River to the settlement was completed, enabling road access from Grafton in the south and on to Kyogle in the north.