Half of these nine sit within a short drive of Derry. St Columb’s Park is the closest, 70 acres at the Waterside end of the Peace Bridge and ten minutes’ walk from the city centre, with woodland paths and sports pitches around a manor house of 1788 that now holds a café. Creggan Country Park lies five minutes out on the other side, 100 community-run acres built around three freshwater lakes; the grounds are free to walk, though the kayaking and raft-building are seasonal and booked ahead. Ness Country Park, southeast of the city, has more than 7 km of waymarked woodland and riverside trails around a 30-foot waterfall on the Burntollet River.
The northern pair need a proper drive. Binevenagh is a 385m basalt escarpment above the Magilligan Peninsula, thrown up by the same 60-million-year-old lava as the Giant’s Causeway, with gliders launching off the cliff edge and a trout lake at the top. The Bann Estuary is reached on a 3.5-mile dune trail from Portstewart Strand, and the season decides what you get: bee and pyramidal orchids in the dunes in summer, shelduck, curlew and teal from the hide in winter.
The rest are scattered. Ballyscullion Park, on Lough Beg in the south of the county, opens its walled garden by prior arrangement only. Brackfield Bawn and its centenary wood stand free and open beside the A6 at Killaloo, and Garvagh Forest is a Bann Valley detour, at its best in bluebell season.
A 385m basalt escarpment above the Magilligan Peninsula, built by the same lava as the Giant's Causeway and still largely left to gliders and trout fishers.
Six thousand years of dune system where the Bann meets the Atlantic, reached on a 3.5-mile walk from Portstewart Strand, with orchids and a winter hide.
A hundred community-run acres of lakes and woodland five minutes from Derry city centre, free to walk, with watersports and trout fishing booked ahead in season.
Seventy acres of woodland, pitches and a 1788 manor house at the Waterside end of the Peace Bridge, ten minutes' walk from the city centre.
A Lanyon house of 1840 beside Lough Beg whose three-acre walled garden opens by prior arrangement, usually with coffee or lunch and a history talk.
9 of 9 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Binevenagh, londonderry
The same 60-million-year-old lava that built the Giant’s Causeway built Binevenagh, a 385m basalt escarpment above the Magilligan Peninsula – but almost nobody comes here. Gliders launch from the cliff edge, the summit lake holds rainbow trout, and the top doubled as the Dothraki grasslands in Game of Thrones.
Portstewart, londonderry
The Bann Estuary is where Northern Ireland's longest river meets the Atlantic at the Barmouth, reached on a 3.5-mile dune trail from Portstewart Strand. A 6,000-year-old dune system, designated an ASSI, it shelters bee and pyramidal orchids and a winter bird hide for shelduck, curlew and teal.
Derry, londonderry
Creggan Country Park is a 100-acre, community-run outdoor centre five minutes from Derry city centre, built around three freshwater lakes with woodland and meadow. The grounds are free to walk; the draw is the watersports, from kayaking and raft-building to aqua-zorbing and a put-and-take trout fishery, mostly seasonal and booked ahead.
Derry, londonderry
St Columb's Park is the 70-acre green space at the Waterside end of the Peace Bridge, ten minutes' walk from Derry's city centre. Its 1788 manor house, now a community hub with a café, sits among woodland walks, sports pitches and the modern Foyle Arena.
Ballyscullion, londonderry
Claudy, londonderry
Garvagh, londonderry
Killaloo, londonderry
Killaloo, londonderry
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