Overview
Windy Gap is a free hilltop car park and viewpoint on the Slievenaboley Road, high in the Dromara Hills of County Down, looking south across farmland to the Mourne peaks. It falls within the Mourne and Slieve Croob Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a compact run of hills and working farms that feels a good way removed from nearby Dromara and Leitrim. ‘Slievenaboley’ means ‘the hill of the booley’, after the old practice of driving cattle up to high summer pasture, and the open fields below the saddle are still farmed today.
The view is the draw, but the walk from the car park is the reason to linger – it strings together two of the oldest things in this corner of Down.
History and archaeology
A short way north of the car park is Finnis Souterrain, a scheduled monument dating to around the 9th century: a low underground passage with two side chambers, the sort of thing early farmers used to store food and to hide in when raiders came through. You’ll have to stoop to get in, and you’ll want a torch, as there’s no lighting. The entrance can flood after heavy rain, so give it a miss in a wet spell.
Further along the walking route stands the Legananny Dolmen, a portal tomb raised around 4000 BC, its long capstone balanced on three tall uprights above the burial chamber. Walking from the souterrain to the dolmen takes you from early-medieval survival back to the Stone Age in the space of a mile.
The walk
The core of the route is the Windy Gap Pad, a rough farm track just under a mile long linking the Slievenaboley and Legananny roads. Walked as a round trip from the car park it comes to about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) – a moderate outing on uneven ground, fine for anyone reasonably sure-footed. It crosses working farmland, so expect mud, livestock and the occasional tractor, and keep dogs on a lead the whole way.
For a longer day, link the Pad with the Adders Loanin’ and the Moat Pad to make a circuit of about 9.25 miles (14.9 km). The whole thing is a public right of way, waymarked with footpath signs and timber kissing gates.
Practical information
- Parking – The free car park sits on the summit of Slievenaboley Road, about 5.4 miles south-west of Dromara and 2.6 miles north of Leitrim village, signed from the B7 Rathfriland–Dromara road. It holds around 15 cars and fills quickly on fine weekends, so come early.
- Facilities – None at the viewpoint. The nearest refreshments are at the Turnip House tea shop and craft outlet, 64 Dromara Road, Ballyward (BT31 9UF); check its opening times before counting on it.
- Terrain and dogs – The track is uneven and can be muddy, and it’s not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Dogs must be kept on a lead, as this is a working farm.
- Navigation – The car park’s grid reference is J274431 (OS sheet 20). The signage and a paper map are more dependable up here than a phone.
Getting there and nearby
Ulsterbus runs between Belfast and Dromara, but there’s no stop at the car park; from Dromara it’s a short taxi to the Slievenaboley turn-off. Driving, allow extra time for the narrow lanes and oncoming traffic.
After the walk, Leitrim village has a pub, a shop and a post office for a sit-down. For more prehistory, the Ballyalton court cairn is another of County Down’s Neolithic sites. Come on a clear morning in late spring or early autumn, before the afternoon wind gets up – that’s when the Mournes show best.