The best walking country in Ireland is free to walk into. Waterfall gorges, a timber staircase up a mountainside, castles in the trees and forests that stood in for the haunted woods of Game of Thrones — and walking costs nothing at every one of these ten.
The spread — the Mournes (Tollymore, Castlewellan, Kilbroney), the Glens of Antrim (Glenariff), the Sperrins (Gortin Glen, Davagh), Fermanagh (Cuilcagh), Armagh (Gosford) and two on Belfast's doorstep (Colin Glen, Crawfordsburn). Wherever you live, one of these is close.
Cost — walking is free at all ten. Where you pay, it's the car park: £5 at Tollymore, Glenariff, Castlewellan and Gosford, £6 at Cuilcagh — and Colin Glen, Gortin Glen and Davagh are free to park too. Every entry links to our full guide with current prices and hours.
Three of these are proper walks.Cuilcagh is 3–4 hours of exposed mountain with no shelter and no toilets on the trail, Glenariff's boards get slippery and don't suit prams, and Crawfordsburn's glen has steps. Match the walk to the legs you're bringing.
Food — a tea house at Glenariff (plus Laragh Lodge right by the falls), cafés at Colin Glen, Gortin Glen and Crawfordsburn, a coffee cart at Castlewellan. Several are seasonal and Tollymore has none inside, so a flask and picnic never goes to waste.
Dogs — welcome on leads at nearly every one, with two rules to know: no dogs at all on the Cuilcagh boardwalk (it's protected bog), and none inside Castlewellan's Peace Maze.
When — genuinely all year. Autumn sets the arboretums at Tollymore and Castlewellan on fire, and rain is not the enemy: a forest in the rain is one of the best days out there is, and Glenariff's falls are at their loudest in a downpour.
1
Tollymore Forest Park
Newcastle, Co. Down · Free to walk · £5 per car
Northern Ireland's first forest park, and still the one to beat. You enter under the Barbican — a castellated stone gateway that's pure theatre — then drop to the Shimna River running fast over rocks past stepping stones, stone bridges and grottoes built to make a walk feel like a story. Giant redwoods tower over one of Ireland's oldest arboretums, the Mournes rise straight out of the treetops, and Game of Thrones filmed its haunted woods north of the Wall right here. Trails run from a half-mile loop to five-mile mountain routes.
2–3 hours for the river loopFree to walk · £5 per carNo café inside — bring a flask; Newcastle is five minutes away
The Queen of the Glens, as it's long been nicknamed — and the finest waterfall walk in the country. A timber boardwalk threads a wooded river gorge past a run of tumbling falls, Ess-na-Larach and Ess-na-Crub among them, with mossy cliffs overhead and a tea house at the end. The full Waterfall Walk is about 3 miles with a climb — allow two to three hours. And here's the thing: rain improves it. A downpour turns the falls thunderous and the whole gorge glows green.
2–3 hoursFree to walk · £5 per carSteps and slippery boards — grippy shoes, and not one for prams
Florencecourt, Co. Fermanagh · Free walk · £6 car park
The "Stairway to Heaven": a timber boardwalk laid dead straight across golden blanket bog, then a flight of about 450 steps climbing the mountainside to a platform with one of the finest views in Fermanagh — lakes and drumlins on a clear day, cloud swallowing the steps on a misty one, and both are worth the trip. This is the big walk of the list: roughly 13km, 3 to 4 hours there and back, exposed the whole way. Boots, waterproofs, your own water and snacks. Earn it and you'll talk about it for months.
3–4 hours · 13km£6 car park — pre-book · free one 1km backNo dogs, no shelter, no toilets on the trail
Castlewellan, Co. Down · Free to walk · £5 per car
A Scottish-baronial castle mirrored in a lake, one of Ireland's great arboretums, and the Peace Maze — said to be one of the world's largest hedge mazes, with a bell at the centre to race for. The lakeside loop is 2.4 miles, level and surfaced, the easiest big walk in the Mournes, and Animal Wood keeps four-to-eleven-year-olds happily occupied. Add the Annesley Walled Garden and the mountain views and a good half day fills itself. Bikes are welcome, with hire at the Grange.
A good half dayFree to walk or cycle in · £5 per carThe Peace Maze can close in bad weather — check first
Six miles of green woodland paths in a river glen beneath Black Mountain — free to walk, with a full adventure park bolted onto the hillside. Fly the zip lines out over the valley, race the Black Bull Run alpine coaster down through the trees, or hunt the mouse, fox, owl and monster on Ireland's only official Gruffalo Trail. The glen itself, with its river, weirs and footbridges, costs nothing and needs no booking. The rides are ticketed and run in timed sessions — the walks are always open.
1–2 hours · half a day with ridesFree parking at the River EntranceRides have height and age limits — book ahead in the holidays
Rostrevor's forest climbs from a riverside park with a playpark and café to the Cloughmore Stone — a giant granite boulder parked on the hillside, with a view over Carlingford Lough to the Cooley Mountains that stops conversations mid-sentence. Red squirrels live in the oakwood nature reserve, mountain-bike trails carve down through the trees, and a forest drive takes you up to a viewpoint over the lough. The climb to the Big Stone is a proper uphill pull — or drive most of the way and finish on a short walk.
A good half dayFree to enter · check parking rates on the dayCafé and facilities can be seasonal — pack a picnic to be sure
Free in, free to park, and built for families. The destination play park runs from toddlers to teens with inclusive equipment for mixed-ability groups, and around it spread five waymarked walking trails, a trim trail, mountain-bike trails and a five-mile forest drive through the Sperrins. Keep eyes peeled for sika deer between the trees. With a café, toilets and a picnic-and-barbecue area on site, a full day here costs exactly nothing — the rarest kind of day out.
Gates from 6.30am dailyFree entry · free parkingGates lock at 6pm October to March — don't get caught out
A free forest with Europe's darkest sky overhead. By day it's a play park, pump track, skills area and mountain-bike trails from a flat trailhead loop up to a 16km red run, with walking trails, a bike wash and toilets with changing facilities at the trailhead. Then, after dark, the OM Dark Sky observatory nearby opens up the part of the day most forests never use — £5 adult, £3.50 under-16, and pre-booking is essential. Ride until dusk, then look up.
Forest open daylight hours dailyFree to enter, walk and rideThe observatory is pre-book essential — don't just turn up
One of the biggest mock castles in the British Isles rises out of 240 hectares of forest at Markethill — a Game of Thrones filming spot you can walk right up to. Around 16km of mostly flat trails loop the deer park, arboretum and walled garden, with a herd of red deer, a rare-breed poultry collection, the Dean Swift walk and a woodland play trail for the kids. The £5 car park covers the whole day. One thing to know: the castle is private apartments, so you admire the outside from the grounds.
A good half day£5 all-day car park covers the parkFacilities are seasonal — pack your own drinks and snacks
Helen's Bay, Co. Down · Free · Pay-and-display parking
The forest walk that ends on a beach. A wooded glen climbs past a waterfall and under a towering old railway viaduct, the North Down Coastal Path runs right through, and Helen's Bay and Swinley Bay deliver the sand at the finish — with grand views over Belfast Lough the whole way along. There's a playpark for the kids and a visitor centre with a café (seasonal hours). Free to walk in, pay-and-display if you drive, and an easy full day if you stretch out along the coast.
Half a day, easily a full oneFree to walk in · open dawn to duskThe glen walk has steps — buggies do better on the coast path
The Mourne double: Tollymore's river and stone bridges in the morning, lunch in Newcastle five minutes from the gates, then Castlewellan's Peace Maze and lakeside loop in the afternoon.
The rainy-day answer: Glenariff's Waterfall Walkway in a downpour, when the falls are at full roar and the gorge glows — then warm up in the tea house at the end.
The Belfast escape: Gruffalo hunting and a glen walk at Colin Glen in the morning, then Crawfordsburn for the waterfall, the viaduct and a beach finish at Helen's Bay.
Keep exploring
Every forest in this list — and about 2,000 more days out across Northern Ireland — is on our free map, with full guides, live events and what's-on near you.
