Tollymore Forest Park: Parking, Prices, Trails and the Game of Thrones Bits

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Tollymore is my favourite place in Northern Ireland, and I have thought about that sentence for a while before writing it down.

Part of it is not really about the forest. I spent a lot of time in Newcastle as a child, so going back now with my own kids, doing Tollymore in the morning and the arcades in the afternoon, is about as close to time travel as I am going to get. I have been in every season and I long ago lost count of how many times.

But the other part is the forest itself. We could go to any of the National Trust parks, and they are lovely, and they all feel a bit the same. Tollymore does not. There are stepping stones. There are bridges. There are waterfalls. You get twenty minutes in and it genuinely feels like you have left the world somewhere back at the car park.

Here is everything you need to know before you go, including the bits nobody puts on the signs. And if you are building a weekend around it, Tollymore is the centre of the Mournes weekend, which is the quietest and cheapest of the five.

What it costs, and the car park

Parking is £5 per car for the day. That is it. There is no separate entry fee for the forest, so once you have paid at the barrier you are in for as long as you want to stay. Larger vehicles are charged more.

Card is accepted, or it was the last time I was there. I bring coins anyway, but that is less about the car park and more about the fact that we are going to Newcastle afterwards and the arcades do not take contactless out of the change jar. We raid the piggy banks before we leave the house.

On busy days: it does get busy, particularly in the middle of summer, and I have been on days when the campsite was full. But this is the thing about a forest. Busy does not feel busy once you are in the trees. I have never had to use an overflow car park and I have never turned around and gone home.

There is an information point in the lower car park if you want a map before you set off.

The four trails, and which one to walk

There are four waymarked trails:

• Blue, the Arboretum Path. Half a mile.
• Red, the Rivers Trail. Three miles.
• Black 1, the Drinns Trail. Three miles.
• Black, the Mountain Trail. Five and a half miles.

Here is my honest advice: you do not really need to pick one.

I have never arrived at Tollymore with a trail in mind. We park, look at the map, and decide which way to go from there. That is partly because I am not a planner, and partly because with kids any plan lasts about ten minutes anyway. The thing about Tollymore is that you can come off the trails at different points, so you are not committed to anything. We mostly just wander.

If I had to name the one I end up on most, it is the Rivers Trail. It follows the Shimna, it takes in the bridges and the stepping stones, and it is the part of the forest that actually looks like the photos. If you want a plan, that is the plan. If you do not, you will still have a good day.

Whatever you pick, wear wellies.

I am not being dramatic. This is Northern Ireland and it is a river valley. Even if it has been dry for a few days, it will be muddy somewhere. We keep wellies in the boot, put them on standing at the car, and keep a spare pair of shoes in the car to change back into afterwards. That last part is the bit people forget, and it is the difference between a nice day out and driving home with muck through the footwells.

The stepping stones, the bridges and the stone arches

The drive in is lovely. You come through the stone arches and it sets the tone before you have even parked.

If it is your first time, do the stepping stones. My two will cross them, turn round, and cross them again, and that on its own makes the trip worth it.

Beyond that I would gently push back on the idea that you need a list. There are plenty of sites that will give you one, and there is nothing wrong with them, but I have never gone to Tollymore to tick off a landmark. We park, and I ask the girls where they want to walk today, and we go that way. The point of the place is being out in it and talking to each other, not getting to a particular bridge.

So by all means look up the Hermitage and the follies before you go. Just do not be disappointed if you end up somewhere else entirely. That is usually the better day.

Game of Thrones at Tollymore

Tollymore doubled as two places in the first season: the Haunted Forest north of the Wall, and the Wolfswood near Winterfell.

The scenes shot here include the opening of the very first episode, where the Night’s Watch rangers find the bodies in the snow. The campfire scene between Tyrion and Jon as they travel north. And the one people actually remember, the Starks finding the dead direwolf and her pups, which was filmed at a bridge in the forest.

Now, the honest bit. There is nothing marked. No plaque, no roped off area, no sign telling you that you are standing in the Wolfswood. If you came purely to tick off filming locations you would wander around slightly unsure whether you had found them.

Go anyway. The point is not standing on an exact spot. It is that the forest looks like it did on screen, because it is the forest that was on screen, and walking through it feels like walking through the scenery. That is worth the detour on its own.

If you would rather someone showed you which bit was which, there is a guided Game of Thrones trek through Tollymore that runs from Newcastle and takes about an hour and a half. It is cheap, and a guide who knows the locations will save you a lot of squinting at trees.

Camping and the caravan site

There is a campsite and touring park inside the forest, and for what you get it is very good value.

Touring pitches are tarmac with electric hookups. Tent pitches are on grass without hookups. There are toilets, showers, a dishwashing room, chemical disposal and fresh water, and there is a separate youth organisation campsite that has to be booked specially. It is all close to the car park, so everything is within walking distance, which matters when you are carrying a tent.

Pitches start at £24 a night, or £28 a night if you want an electric hookup. Booking is through the nidirect online system, and prices can move by season, so confirm when you book.

I have never camped there, so I am not going to pretend otherwise. My kids are not campers. I am working on it. And Tollymore is the one place I think I might actually manage it, because there is enough to do that nobody gets bored, the dogs can come, and Newcastle and its arcades are ten minutes down the road as a bribe.

We used to keep a caravan down that way, though not at Tollymore itself. There are a good few caravan sites around Newcastle if the forest one is full.

With kids

Mine have been going since they were about three, and you could take them younger.

There are good playgrounds. There is an ice cream van, and coffee, which is the real reason adults tolerate the playground.

On buggies, I would be straight with you: mostly no. There are stretches near the playground where you could get away with it. The trails proper are not buggy country. If you have a baby, a carrier will make your day much better than wheels will.

And accept in advance that they are going to get filthy. That is what the wellies are for.

When to go

All year, honestly, and for a specific reason. The tree cover does a lot of work. On the rare scorching day you are in shade rather than full sun. When it rains, and it will, the canopy catches a fair bit of it before it reaches you.

My favourite is autumn, for the leaves. It is not close. If you are planning a trip around that, I have written more on what the province is like in Northern Ireland in October and Northern Ireland in November, including the weather you should actually expect rather than the weather you are hoping for.

Making a day of it

Tollymore on its own is a morning. Newcastle is minutes away and turns it into a day.

For food, three we go back to. Piccolo Kitchen for stone baked pizza. Villa Vinci for a proper sit down Italian, which is worth the trip on its own. And the chip shop at the Mournes end of the main street, the end you are looking straight at as you come down into the town, which is the one we end up at after a wet walk.

For staying over, the Burrendale is the family option. It is about twenty minutes walk from the seafront, it has a pool, and it has had a revamp fairly recently. The Slieve Donard is the grand one at the other end of the scale, and we have both stayed and eaten there. If neither suits, here is the full list of places to stay in Newcastle, which is worth a look in summer when the two obvious ones fill up.

Then there are the amusements, which my two would rank above the forest if you asked them directly, so I do not ask them directly. They take their piggy banks. That is a warning, not a tip.

If you are after a crumble pot, the stall at the Belfast Christmas Market is the one people know, but you can get them in Newcastle too. You can have toasted marshmallows on top and a choice of sauces if that is your thing. It is not mine. Apple crumble with custard, every time.

If you are walking rather than eating chips, Slieve Donard is the obvious one from Newcastle. It is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland but it is not the hardest climb, and there are always people on the trail, so you are unlikely to be up there alone. Watch the forecast properly before you go. The weather on Donard is not the weather in the car park.

If you are going up, take a paper map and do not rely on your phone. The Harvey Superwalker XT25 Mourne Mountains map is the one you will see in most rucksacks, and it is waterproof, which matters here more than it does in most places. If you want more than Donard, The Mourne Mountains: The 30 Best Hikes is written by someone local and covers the walks that are not on every list.

There is more to do around the Mournes than one forest and one mountain. You can browse what is running around Newcastle and the Mournes here, and there is more across the province in my guide to things to do in Northern Ireland.

We go several times a year. Writing this has made me want to go again this weekend.

Tollymore Forest Park FAQ

How much does Tollymore Forest Park cost?

£5 per car for the day. There is no additional entry charge for the forest itself. Larger vehicles pay more.

What time does Tollymore Forest Park open?

The forest is open every day of the year, from 10am until sunset. There can be short closures in winter in heavy snow or high winds.

How long does the walk take?

Depends which trail, and whether you stick to it. The Arboretum Path is half a mile, the Rivers Trail and the Drinns Trail are three miles each, and the Mountain Trail is five and a half. You can leave the trails at various points, so most people end up doing their own version rather than a full loop. Give yourself two to three hours if you want a proper walk plus time at the stepping stones.

Was Game of Thrones filmed at Tollymore Forest Park?

Yes, in season one. It stood in for the Haunted Forest north of the Wall and the Wolfswood near Winterfell, including the opening scene of the first episode and the discovery of the direwolf pups. Nothing is signposted on the ground.

Can you camp at Tollymore Forest Park?

Yes. Pitches start at £24 a night, or £28 with an electric hookup. Touring pitches are tarmac with hookups, tent pitches are on grass without, and there are toilets, showers and washing facilities on site. Book through nidirect.

Is Tollymore Forest Park suitable for buggies?

Not really. Short stretches near the playground are manageable. The trails are not. Bring a carrier.

Is Tollymore Forest Park dog friendly?

Yes, and you will see plenty of them. Keep them on a lead. Mine are always on a lead there. It is a working forest with a river running through it, there is livestock on nearby land, and the trails get busy at weekends.

Do I need wellies?

Yes. Even after a dry spell. And keep a spare pair of shoes in the car.