Overview
Hillsborough Forest is a roughly 200-acre woodland park on the edge of Royal Hillsborough, County Down, run by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. It was once part of the Hillsborough Castle demesne and still sits right beside the castle and the 17th-century Hillsborough Fort, a few minutes’ walk from the village and about 20 minutes from Belfast. It’s mature broadleaf and conifer woodland wrapped around a lake, with three waymarked loops, all of them mostly flat. If you only have time for one, take the Lake Trail.
Walking trails
The three main loops are colour-coded and waymarked, so navigation is easy.
Lake Trail
A flat 1.8 km loop around the central lake, with benches along the water. It’s the pick for families with young children or anyone using a wheelchair or pushchair.
Fox Fort Trail
A 3.4 km circular route through the woodland that passes the remains of the Fox Fort rath. Most of it is flat, with one short, steeper pull up to the earthwork that you can bypass if you’d rather stay level.
Digital Sculpture Trail
A flat 1.9 km loop dotted with ten large sculptures. Download the free augmented-reality app and each one unlocks digital animations and games, which is the closest thing the forest has to a novelty. Three permanent orienteering courses were also added in 2022 for anyone who wants to navigate rather than follow the arrows.
Nature & wildlife
The whole lake area is a wildlife sanctuary. You’ll reliably see swans, ducks, cormorants and other waterfowl on the water, and the surrounding woodland holds foxes, badgers and squirrels.
Fishing is by permit only. The lake is stocked with both brown and rainbow trout, so sort a permit before you turn up with a rod.
History & Heritage
The woodland was once hunting ground and estate timber for the Hillsborough Castle demesne. Two older layers survive in the trees: the 17th-century Hillsborough Fort, which sits adjacent to the forest, and the much older Fox Fort rath, an early ring-fort now reduced to an earth bank on the Fox Fort Trail. Recent council redevelopment has upgraded the paths and facilities around them rather than over them.
Facilities & Practical Information
Opening Hours
The forest is open dawn to dusk, all year, so the useful hours stretch and shrink with the seasons. Some listings note it closes on the first Sunday in January. The children’s play park keeps its own set times: April–September Monday 10:30–21:00 and Tuesday–Sunday 09:00–21:00; October–March Monday 10:00–17:00 and Tuesday–Sunday 09:00–17:00.
Admission & Parking
Entry and parking are both free. There’s parking at the forest entrance off Park Street and more near the fort, though it can fill on weekends and through the summer, so come early on a fine Saturday. Bike racks are provided at the entrance, but cycling is not allowed on the trails.
Refreshments & facilities
Percy’s Coffee runs a truck in the car park for a hot drink before or after a loop. There are toilets near the play park, plus the village toilets on Main Street, and picnic benches and lakeside seating dotted around the water.
Accessibility & family amenities
The main trails are flat and wide enough for wheelchairs and pushchairs, the Lake Trail most of all. Accessible toilets and baby-changing are near the main play area, and the play park itself has woodland-themed equipment with some inclusive, sensory features.
Getting There
- By car: From Belfast, follow the M1 to the A1 and exit at Sprucefield, then head into Hillsborough for the entrance off Park Street. About 20 minutes.
- By bus: Translink services connect Belfast to Royal Hillsborough, stopping within walking distance of the park entrance.
Nearby Attractions
The forest sits right beside Hillsborough Castle, whose State Rooms and 100-acre gardens make an easy pairing with a woodland walk, and the adjoining 17th-century Hillsborough Fort is a two-minute detour. Royal Hillsborough itself has plenty of pubs and cafés for a post-walk meal.
Pair the flat Lake Trail with a coffee from Percy’s truck and you’ve a decent hour without leaving the car park behind for long; add the Fox Fort loop if the legs want more.