Divis Lough Trail - Belfast

Start : The Barn Coffee Shop (BT17 0NG) and a minor road off the B38 Upper Springfield Road, off the A55 Outer Ring

(S/E) From the car park at The Long Barn, pass through the kissing gate directly opposite.

Follow the gently sloping path along its length (530m or so), on a clear day taking in sights such as Lough Neagh and the Sperrin Mountains to the west.

(1) The path continues winding across the open hillside, curving back on itself (South-East) and leading you past a viewpoint highlighting the history of the region including a rath. (A)

(2) As you reach a path junction, turn right (South). Continue to follow the path until reaching the concrete road again where you turn right (South-West). Cross the gate and follow this back to the car park. (S/E)

Start : The Barn Coffee Shop (BT17 0NG) and a minor road off the B38 Upper Springfield Road, off the A55 Outer Ring

Parking : The Barn Coffee Shop (BT17 0NG) and a minor road off the B38 Upper Springfield Road, off the A55 Outer Ring or Divis and Black Mountain Car park - National Trust (BT17 0NG). National Trust car park pricing applies for this car park however there is an alternative free car park on Divis Rd approx 0.5 miles from the Long Barn which can also be used by walkers.

Terrain : Gently sloping, compacted gravel

Public Transport : Translink

Facilities : Divis Coffee Barn

Find more information and walk ideas at Walk NI here.

(A) Divis mountain : Divis is a hill and area of sprawling moorland north-west of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. With a height of 1,568 ft (478 m), it is the highest of the Belfast Hills. It is joined with the neighbouring Black Mountain, and in the past they may have been seen as one. Divis transmitting station is on the summit. The mountain extends north to the Antrim Plateau and shares its geology; consisting of a basaltic cover underlain by limestone and lias clay.

Only recently have the Divis area and its surrounding mountains been handed over to the National Trust; from 1953 to 2005, it was under the control of the Ministry of Defence. It was also used as a training area for the British Army. It might have been released earlier, but due to the period of unrest known as the Troubles, the British Government and military viewed the area as a useful vantage point, overlooking Belfast.

Source and more information about Divis here!