Forest is completely uncared for!! Overgrown, bins over flowing, litter everywhere, paths are horrendous and a slipping hazard, gruffalo statues are completely run down and just sad looking, fairy village is non existent. Complete disappointment for me and the kids! won’t be back !!
We visited Colin Glen to do the Gruffalo Trail with our 2- and 3-year-olds and really enjoyed it. The forest park is lovely and the trail is great fun, with figures of all the characters from the Gruffalo story along the way – the kids loved spotting them. Just a tip: make sure to park at the Visitor Centre rather than the Forest Park car park, as the latter is quite far away and you’ll end up walking the trail back-to-front, which means tackling some big hills that aren’t ideal with young children. The signage could also be clearer, as it’s a bit confusing in places. The Visitor Centre has a café, though it’s a bit run down and could do with some updating. Overall, a very enjoyable visit and definitely worth doing with young kids.
A nice park hilly in places. The path colour coded signage in places is a bit weathered. The green path loop could be better signposted with a post at the steps towards the Gruffalo trail. Cafe closed when I got back at around 3.45pm.
We explore forest parks constantly, mainly throughout N.I. Thought we would try here today. Read reviews but always like to experience things for ourselves. I think we spent as much time dodging dog shit as we did trying to follow the poor layout. It is a colour coded route but after the first 2/3 signs they’re faded away. They’ve updated the signs for direction but the map doesn’t correspond. Very little to see in terms of an actual enjoyable walk. The sculptures of the animals are all damaged, dirty and run down. Have absolutely no idea how this place gets any traction at all. Total kip. Needs a massive overhaul and influx of cash to bring the place up to standards. Think every 50 yards there was a pile of shit on the ground. Which is a fair reflection of this place.
We had a great time on the Gruffalo trail. The guide, Courtney, was friendly and interacted brilliantly with the kids. We brought a picnic and there were lots of tables to eat at. I'd highly recommend this as a family activity
Staff were amazing .. patient, knowledgeable and very helpful. My son enjoyed his activities. Great spot. The council lost the last star as signposting was poor, causing confusion for lots of visitors.
Autumn is the best season to visit Colin Glen. The place comes alive with such vibrancy. A fungi spotter's dream. I know the lovely people at Belfast Hills arrange regular litter picks of this space. Some more way pointers and/or maps of the walk along the way would benefit the place.
Good wee bit of fun up the mountain.. it will get more faculties in the future. Zip wire 250m long, the new one will be 750m it will be much better and longest 8n ireland.
Lovely walk, was really surprised how big the walk actually is. There is the main "fairy tale walk" , but past it there are several paths, along a small river. Some are small hiking trails. There are also several cycling trails, and loads of signs saying: caution! where cycling trails and walking paths cross. Also at the car park there was a small cafe that was serving tea and coffee, and looked like they wer setting up BBQ too!
Colin Glen River Entrance is located at 163 Stewartstown Rd, Dunmurry, Belfast BT17 0HW, UK
You can contact Colin Glen River Entrance at +44 28 9061 4115
You can find directions to Colin Glen River Entrance by following this map link