Maydena has experienced many changes since it was settled about the turn of the 20th century. Very little is known about the earliest years, but it is believed the whole of the Tyenna River Basin west of National park was called Tyenna until a second primary school was built in the valley, and called Maydena.

The town was the main centre of supply and communication for the Adamsfield mining centre where fortunes were made and lost in the search for osmiridium.

The 1930s saw the end of the mining rush, and, after the disastrous bush fire of 1934 swept the area, the sawmills wound down their operations.

ANM Ltd built the present township of Maydena in 1949-50 to house its workers. Well planned, and attractively laid out, it attracted many people. The small single-roomed school grew to the present five-classroom with separate Kindergarten.

Enrolment peaked at 168, plus 40 Kindergarten children, while trains to Maydena are now few and far between, up to 1952 there were five trains a day carrying goods, passengers and mail.

In 1952 two daily bus services were introduced for passengers and the mail.

Boom times have passed by these days and the village at the 2006 census had a population of just 245.

In what is believed to be a first in Australia, the Railtrack Rider (RTR) in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley provides the opportunity to travel along the old Maydena railway track past an historic railway siding and into the rainforest.

The RTR gives patrons a unique tourism experience by providing an opportunity for adventure in an historic area with a forest industry heritage.

The journey takes about one hour return with the incline in the first section providing a bit of a work out, while the return run is a fast, easy downhill pedal.