Glenariff Forest Park

Glenariff is the broadest of the nine Glens of Antrim, a U-shaped valley cut by ice with steep sides and a flat floor, and Thackeray is said to have called it Switzerland in miniature. The Waterfall Walkway follows the Inver river through a wooded gorge past three main falls, Ess na Larach, Ess na Crub and Tears of the Mountain, on boardwalks and bridges pinned to the rock; the original walkways were built in the 1930s and the gorge was opened as a paying attraction much earlier, in the 1880s, by the narrow-gauge railway company that ran excursions up the glen from Ballymena. The gorge is a national nature reserve for its ferns, mosses and liverworts, which need the constant humidity. The park covers around a thousand hectares with longer trails on the plateau above.

What you actually see

• The waterfall boardwalks - walkways pinned through a wet wooded gorge.
• The three main falls - Ess na Larach, Ess na Crub and Tears of the Mountain.
• The U-shaped glen - a broad ice-cut valley with steep flanking sides.
• The gorge flora - ferns and mosses protected as a nature reserve.

When to go

April to October; the falls run best after rain and the gorge is at its greenest in late spring. Autumn colour is good. The boardwalks are slippery in wet and frosty conditions and sections close after storms.

Honest expectations

The waterfall walk involves many steps and is not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Boardwalks close for repair after storm damage, sometimes for months. Parking is charged per vehicle and the car park fills on summer weekends.

Nearby

Waterfoot and Cushendall lie down the glen; the Antrim coast road runs past the mouth.