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Lisnabreeny and Cregagh Glen
A picturesque walk from wooded glen to hilltop rath
Manse Road, Belfast, County Down, BT8 6SA
Opening times for 8 May 2024
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Limited space available.
Dogs
Dogs must remain on a lead at all times. Please help us care for this space by cleaning up after your dog and disposing of waste properly.
Car park. Woodland walk can be wet underfoot due to waterfall spray.
Steps/uneven terrain
Walks along mixed woodland, farmland and hills. Woodland walk can be wet underfoot due to waterfall spray
By road
From Belfast/East: From the A55 Upper Knockbreda Road, take the A23 Ballygown Road. After 3/4 mile, turn right onto the Manse Road. After 1/2 mile, turn left onto the Lisnabreeny Road. The car park is at the top of the hill on the right. The Manse Road entrance is beside Lagan College. From Belfast/South/West: From the A55 Upper Knockbreda Road, take the Glencregagh Road past Forster Green Hospital and at the end, turn left on to the Manse Road.
Parking: Our small car park on Lisnabreeny Road will be open from Wednesday 27 May. We have limited spaces, so if the car park is full please come back another time. No parking on Manse Road or at Cregagh Glen entrance on A55.
Sat Nav: Sat Nav postcode for Manse Road is BT8 6SA.
On foot
Accessible through Cregagh Glen from the A55 at the top of the Cregagh Road. Entrance on the Manse Road is a ½ mile walk from the bus terminal at Four Winds.
By bus
Metro services 6A, 30, 31 stop near Cregagh Glen entrance on A55. 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 76, 79 to Four Winds terminal.
By bicycle
About 4 miles from Sustrans route 99. Follow the A55 Upper Knockbreda Road.
Planning your visit
Highlights
Wooded glen
Lisnabreeny takes in wooded glen, estate and green field to the summit of the Castlereagh hills, on the edge of east Belfast.
About Lisnabreeny and Cregagh Glen
Lisnabreeny takes in wooded glen, estate and green field to the summit of the Castlereagh hills on the edge of east Belfast.
The path hugs the sides of Cregagh glen as it climbs through pools of sunlight cast by the trees. You’ll hear the waterfall, but also keep an eye out for the carpets of bluebell and wood anemone in spring.
Near the top of the glen, pause a moment at the memorial marking a temporary graveyard for American servicemen during the second world war.
Follow the path past Lisnabreeny house, once the home of poet Nesca Robb, briefly a youth hostel and army headquarters before restoration as part of Lagan College.
Look out for the ivy-strewn walls of the old garden, now replanted with broadleaves and build a den in the natural play area.
Futher up into the hills and open countryside, take in the view from the Mournes to Scrabo.
Atop the hill is the rath that gives the area its name, an ancient fortified homestead encircled with trees.
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