Somerset Forest
This wood is situated one mile south of Coleraine on the A54 Kilrea Road.
Activities
There is a hard surfaced car park with open grass areas and picnic tables nearby.
A wheelchair accessible tarmac path offers a scenic loop starting and finishing at the forest car park.
Two waymarked paths lead through the forest offering visitors a seasonally varied walk through broadleaf and conifer trees.
There may be restrictions on access to parts of the forest from time to time due to forest operations. Pay attention to safety signage.
About this forest
Herons nest beside the woodland and adult birds can be regularly seen at the side of the River Bann when the tide is low.
Mountsandel Wood
Mountsandel Wood covers 21.2 hectares stretching about one mile along the eastern bank of the River Bann to the south of Coleraine. There is a path along the river bank which loops back past Mountandel Fort, site of the earliest known habitation in Ireland. An early Meosolithic settlement, people lived and hunted at the site around 7,000 BC.
The forest is accessible from Mountsandel Road in Coleraine.
Castleroe Wood
This is mixed woodland of 16 hectares to the south of Coleraine on the edge of the River Bann. There is a small tarmac car park.
Access from the A54, near Castleroe village
How to get there
The forest is accessible from the Castleroe Road outside Coleraine.