Yellow Water Picnic Area to Kilbroney Park - Mourne Way Trek

Start : Yellow Water Picnic Site, Newtown Rd, Rostrevor, Newry (BT34 3BY)
The Mourne Way route is always well signed

(S) Begin by turning left at the T-junction near Yellow Water Picnic Area. Just 30m later, turn right and cross a wooden footbridge over the Yellow Water River.

(1) Climb to the end of a track and turn right (South-West), beginning to contour along the hillside through dense pine trees. (A)

The track passes several junctions, but the route is always well signed and generally continues straight ahead ignoring paths coming from left and right for around 4.8 Km. As you near the end of the section, you begin to descend steadily through the trees.

(2) After around 4.8 Km, pass the camping ground and join the bottom of the tarmac forest drive.

(3) Cross over a stone bridge and 200m later you will arrive at the main car park for Kilbroney Park, the official end point of the route. (E)

Start : Yellow Water Picnic Site, Newtown Rd, Rostrevor, Newry (BT34 3BY)

Arrival : Kilbroney Park, Shore Rd, Rostrevor, Newry (BT34 3AA)

Parking : Car park available at the picnic area at the start and at Kilbroney Park at the arrival.

Note : The Mourne Way route is always well signed

Terrain : Mixed mountain terrain

Public Transport : Translink

Facilities : Kilbroney Caravan Park (B&B), 80 Shore Rd, Rostrevor, Newry BT34 3AA. Toilets and Café available at Kilbroney PArk

Note : If you wish, you can do several parts of this trek at once. Pay attention to the information given in each part to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Find more information and walk ideas at Walk NI here.

(A) Where there are gaps in the vegetation, there are good views over the fertile Kilbroney River valley. As you progress the panorama extends south to include the town of Rostrevor, with Kilbroney Church on its northern edge. This church lies on the site of a former convent founded in by St Bronach in the 6th century, and the whole scene is backed by the tidal waters of Carlingford Lough.

Did You Know?
Kilbroney Church is the location of the legend of St Bronach’s Bell. The story recalls an invisible bell that rang in the churchyard during storms, continuing St Bronach’s work of caring for troubled sailors. The apparently supernatural origin of the noise was explained in 1795 however, when an ancient oak tree blew down, revealing a 9th-century church bell that had been hidden in its branches during the reformation.