Overview
The thing most people actually stop for at Spelga isn’t the water. It’s the stretch of road just south of the dam where, with the car in neutral and the handbrake off, you appear to roll uphill against gravity. That, and the view.
Spelga Reservoir sits at over 370m in the Mourne Mountains of County Down, in an upland basin known as Deers Meadow. It was built between 1953 and 1957 by the Belfast engineering firm R Ferguson and Son, which dammed the River Bann to supply drinking water to Portadown and Banbridge. The main car park, at the northern end, gives you the reservoir laid out flat below the peaks – a straightforward place to pull in, take it in, and move on, or use as the start of a walk into the high Mournes. The whole area is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The gravity hill
South of the dam is the optical illusion locals call the magic hill. The lie of the land around the road tricks your eye about what’s level, so a gentle downhill slope reads as an uphill one. Put a car in neutral and release the brake and it seems to creep the wrong way. It’s a quick, free diversion and the reason plenty of families come at all. If you’ve driven Scotland’s Electric Brae, it’s the same trick, quieter and with a better backdrop.
Walking and exploring
Two walks start from the reservoir. The lakeshore route is the easy one: flat and open, roughly 2 to 3km, about 45 minutes to an hour, and the one to do if you’ve only twenty minutes and a flask. The Spelga Dam loop is a different proposition, a strenuous circuit that climbs nearby summits such as Cock Mountain before dropping back to the valley. You can set off from the north car park or from the smaller Deer Mountain car park on the south side.
There’s a fishery here too. Spelga is a wild brown trout water, open 1 March to 31 October, fished by fly, spinning or worm; you’ll need a DAERA rod licence and a permit, and no boats are allowed. In a long dry spell the water level drops far enough to expose the original Victorian road and bridge that were flooded when the reservoir filled – it last happened in 2018 and 2020, and when it does the old roadway briefly becomes a walkable path across the valley floor.
Getting there and practical info
Entry is free, but the car park costs £4.50. The north-side car park is the one to head for: 33 spaces, two accessible bays, toilets (one accessible), picnic tables and benches. The Deer Mountain car park on the south side is smaller with fewer facilities, and usually quieter on a busy summer day.
By car: From Newcastle, follow the A2 south and pick up the B27 Kilkeel Road, which climbs past Fofanny Dam to the reservoir; it’s roughly 10 miles from Newcastle. The drive itself is the scenic part. From Belfast, take the M1 and A1 to Newry, then the B8 toward Hilltown and onto the B27 for the final climb.
Public transport: There’s no regular bus service. The seasonal Mourne Rambler stops here in July and August only, so outside those two months you’ll need a car.
Visitor tips:
- A food truck is often parked up in summer, but there are no shops or cafés otherwise, so bring food and water the rest of the year.
- Wear boots. The valley paths are uneven and turn to mud after rain, which is often.
- Mobile signal is patchy in the basin; download offline maps first.
- Dogs are welcome under close control, as the land is used for water supply and grazing.
Spelga works best as one stop on a wider Mournes day rather than a destination in itself: the gravity hill and the lakeshore loop take an hour between them, and from the car park you’re well placed to push on to Ben Crom or drop down to the coast. If you’re here after two days of rain, walk the shore before you leave – the reservoir is at its most dramatic when it’s brim full.