The 7 mile Navar Forest driving route is a pleasant outing in itself, but can be greatly enhanced by adding on a bit of walking. The Blackslee Waterfall Walk and the nearby superb Correl Glen Nature Reserve and Carrick Viewpoint Walk are each described in their own posts. This post pulls together other short options which might suit changeable weather or a less active party of travellers.
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Woodburn Forest and the Knockagh Escarpment
Some of the walks described in “Grand Day Out” may be appropriate for you as daily local exercise. Please use the maps and modify the routes to avoid hot-spots or places where the paths are too narrow. Turn back if unsure, practice social distancing and step off paths if they are narrow when passing others.
Do not over-stretch yourself physically or explore beyond your comfort zone.
See also: Covid-19 – Stay Local – be MORE Careful
Maps and photos note: click or tap to see any maps or photographs below as a high resolution version.
On arrival, you might think Woodburn Forest looks like just another Forest Service conifer plantation, but it is actually a reservoir catchment woodland controlled by Northern Ireland Water. It contains a descending chain of Victorian reservoirs (built 60 years before the Silent Valley), agricultural landscape history and an old (or ancient) roadway, which once ran to a beautiful glen, down through the Knockagh Escarpment past an ancient monastic site to Carrickfergus. Sadly this ‘Friar’s Glen’ is no longer publicly accessible, so instead this walk climbs to the Knockagh Monument on the high edge of the Escarpment with spectacular views over Belfast Lough, its settlements and surrounding hills.
Continue readingThe Bleach Green Railway Viaducts and the “Loop”
(or it’s hard to get people out of Belfast)
Belfast is a city built at the end of a coastal inlet and surrounded by hills. Like many coastal cities, shipbuilding and sea travel feature large in its history and sense of identity. However, the surrounding hills, which played a key role in shaping its development, are strangely neglected.
Continue readingCarnmoney Hill Seashore Circuit
Some of the walks described in “Grand Day Out” may be appropriate for you as daily local exercise. Please use the maps and modify the routes to avoid hot-spots or places where the paths are too narrow. Turn back if unsure, practice social distancing and step off paths if they are narrow when passing others.
Do not over-stretch yourself physically or explore beyond your comfort zone.
See also: Covid-19 – Stay Local – be MORE Careful
Maps and photos note: click or tap to see any maps or photographs below as a high resolution version.
| TYPE | Urban, woodland and greenway walk |
|---|---|
| DISTANCE | 11.3 miles / 18.2 km |
| part one | 6.8 miles / 11 km |
| part two | 4.5 miles / 7.2 km |
| SURFACES | Generally asphalt / concrete with sections on well made compacted paths. Short sections of mown grassy paths. |
| HEIGHT GAIN / LOSS | 1223 feet climb |
| HAZARDS | 400m section walking on a minor road – do not walk this in poor visibility. The area is urban in character so you will encounter people – please take normal precautions. |
Where is the best view over Belfast? Some would say from the top of Cavehill, but I would suggest that the views south from Carnmoney Hill are much better, combining the panorama over the Lough and City with spectacular midground profile of Cavehill (which is of course invisible from Cavehill itself). On a clear day this fine walk allows you to judge for yourself!
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