Causeway Coastal Way - Ballintoy to Bushmills

Start : Ballintoy Harbour car park (BT54 6NB)

(S) From Ballintoy harbour car park, follow the Causeway Coast Way path in a Westerly direction for around 1.4 Km, passing low dunes and damp pastures. Cross a stile leading past rock stacks to access the narrow end of White Park Bay Beach. (A) The beach offers easy walking along its length.

(1) Continue across uneven rocks and chalk boulders for around 2.2 Km to access Portbradden.
Care is needed when crossing these rocks. During high tide, Portbradden can be accessed by joining the main coast road via the track at the youth hostel, and taking the winding road down to Portbradden.

(2) Continue along the coast, passing through the arch at Gid Point. Continue along the path passing a series of rocky bays to Dunseverick Harbour. (B)

(3) From the lay-by at Dunseverick, follow the path in a Westerly direction passing by Portmoon Salmon Fishery, Contham Head and Benbane and Bengore Head. Between Benbane and Bengore is Hamiltons Seat, the highest point on the walk which offers superb views.

Continue along the path passing the Bays of Port na Tober, Port na Spaniagh and the Ampitheatre.
An optional detour is to take the ‘Shepherd’s steps’ down to the waters edge to experience the hexagonal basalt formations that make the Giant’s Causeway a World Heritage Site.

(4) From here follow the tarmac path to the visitors centre or follow the cliff top path to the visitors centre. (C)

(5) Continue through the car park to the junction of the Causeway Road and the Runkerry Road.

(6) Follow the Runkerry Road for 300 meters to arrive at the Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Railway.

(7) Follow the path along side the railway track along its length until arrival at the Bushmills Station on the Ballaghmore Road, Bushmills. (E)

Start : The walk starts at Ballintoy Harbour car park (BT54 6NB). To get here follow the Main Street west out of Ballintoy for 500m, and turn right. Ballintoy Harbour car park is 1.6 Km away at the end of the Harbour Road.

Terrain: Single file track, beaches, UNEV

Public transport : Bushmills Train Station for a £5 fee Translink

Facilities : Cafés, Shop and toilets

Find more information and walk ideas at Walk NI here.

(A) White Park Bay : Sandy beach forming a white arc between two headlands on the North Antrim Coast and by ancient sand dunes.

(B) Dunseverick Castle : Dunseverick Castle and the peninsula on which it stands were given to the National Trust in 1962 by local farmer Jack McCurdy. The Causeway Cliff Path also runs past on its way to Dunseverick Harbour to the east and to the Giant's Causeway to the west.
Saint Patrick is recorded as having visited Dunseverick castle in the 5th century AD, where he baptized Olcán, a local man who later became a bishop of Ireland. The original stone fort that occupied the position was attacked by Viking raiders in 870 AD.

(C) The Giant’s Causeway : The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of the town of Bushmills.
The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although some have four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres (39 ft) high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres (92 ft) thick in places.