Slieve Bloom beauty spot places in national Top 20

A SLIEVE Bloom beauty spot has placed in a nationwide Top 20 out of a possible 250 contenders.
Glenbarrow has been named among the Top 20 most visited Coillte recreational forests in Ireland.
According to visitor statistics recorded in 2024, Glenbarrow had almost 51,700 visits last year, placing it nineteenth overall in the Top 20 most visited Coillte recreational sites nationwide.
As those who visit Glenbarrow will often tell you, this part of the mountain range is a very popular spot.
It has been popular for decades but it's allure has skyrocketed in recent years, which necessitated a major expansion of the car park in 2023, ending years of parking chaos at the visitor area. The expansion tripled the amount of car parking spaces from 35 to 95 spaces.
Glenbarrow offers visitors four walkway trails boasting flowing waterfalls and steep-sided valleys. Historically, the area was quarried in the 1800s with signs of this activity still visible. The river Barrow weaves through deposits of ancient glaciers in the area, with trails leading onto the Nature Reserve on the Ridge of Capard where visitors can overlook the beautiful valley below.
In first place with almost 350,000 visits, was Avondale Forest Park. Avondale Forest Park is home to the visitor destination Beyond the Trees Avondale which officially opened in July 2022. In addition to Avondale House, the home of Charles Stewart Parnell, it now boasts a unique Treetop Walk and Viewing Tower, Ireland’s longest slide.
Rossmore Forest Park in Co. Monaghan, which boasts a variety of walking trails around Rossmore Castle, surrounding lakes where fishing is available, family cycling trails, and nature tracks, attracted the second highest number of visits in 2024, with over 340,000 recorded. Ticknock in Co. Dublin, which offers several walking and hiking trails, as well as mountain-bike tracks and orienteering courses, followed in third place with over 260,000 visits last year.
Over three million people visited Coillte’s top 50 most popular recreational woodlands and parks in 2024.
Coillte says the data indicates a growing interest from the public in local outdoor recreation, with “many visitors to Coillte sites enjoying walks through recreational parks and woodlands where they can explore nature and biodiversity.” There are also a host of activities available at various locations including cycling, fishing, orienteering, horse riding and ziplining.
Coillte says it's the largest provider of outdoor recreation in Ireland with a total of 260 forest recreational areas, twelve forest parks and six mountain bike centres nationwide.
In 2024, counters at these locations were repositioned within the forest areas to permit more accurate data to be captured on visitor numbers.
Coillte’s head of recreation (and Birr native), Daithi de Forge, pointed out that as Ireland’s largest provider of outdoor recreation spaces, Coillte is delighted to see the growth in visitor numbers to three million, across its most popular recreational sites in 2024. “This increase highlights the importance of outdoor recreation and reflects a growing demand by the public to spend time in nature.”
Daithi said Storm Éowyn caused unprecedented damage in January to Coillte's productive and recreational forests, as well as to biodiversity areas across the country. Almost 100 Coillte recreation locations were closed after the storm “and we’re pleased that 92 of these sites have since reopened following significant efforts by the Coillte team, with just eight sites remaining closed at this time. These eight sites require detailed recovery works given the scale of the damage caused and we remain committed to recovering these eight sites and reopening them to the public as soon as possible.”
Coillte said it's also pleased to continue its partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, “which will enable the improvement and restoration of Coillte forests and amenities nationwide. With an open forest policy, Coillte is proud to support local businesses who enhance the services available in our forests, and we look forward to continuing the delivery of the highest quality outdoor recreation experiences for communities across Ireland.”
Earlier this year, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht announced that it will invest over €4 million at Coillte recreational sites during 2025. This funding will be dedicated towards new trail infrastructure, ongoing maintenance and repair of damage caused by recent storms including Storm Éowyn in January of this year. This funding is critical to ensure the upkeep and improvement of locations and ensures the continued safety for visitors seeking to enjoy the outdoors and reap the benefits that nature offers to health and wellbeing.
For more information on Coillte recreation sites and forests, visit: www.coillte.ie.

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