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Belfast Hills Epic
Hills accessible from Poleglass/Suffolk, off the M1 - a number of options for start point.
Good mid-size epic overlooking Belfast City, but return journey on road, unless you re-trace your route. Superb views over the city.
Colin Glen Start Multimap Link
Belfast Hills Epic Trail Map (Jpg, 460k) - marked
From Colin Glen follow the Ulster Way North East towards Cave Hill. The going may be difficult in places and, depending on exact route chosen, a number of fences may have to be crossed en route.
Some superb views of Belfast and beyond on the way. Once you summit Cave Hill, you have a few options. Either:
1. Make your way to the North East end of the hill and swing round to take you down towards Belfast Castle. Superb singletrack descent off the top and through the trees, but watch for walkers and families low down, round Belfast Castle.
OR
2. Take the Quarry Trail, which starts along the ridge to the right of the summit as you look over Belfast. See the Cave Hill page for more on this.
Return to start by road.
Report by Ciaran on another option
Started at Belfast Castle, took the fireroad to the back of the Cavehill, crossed the Upper Hightown Road, and took the farmers' lanes over Squires Hill to Flush Road.
Then hit the road over to WolfHill Quarry and over stiles, through fields and a bit of Boundary Road and Divis Mountain Road to the top of Divis Mountain.
From there, went down the mountain to Tipperary Road, followed the Tipperary Trail across the moorland to hook up again with Boundary Road to go back the way I came.
It took about 2.5 hrs to do at a leisurely pace. About 80% of the route is off road. Would definitely do it again as that whole Divis Mountain / Blacks Mountain has loads of potential.
Movies of Belfast Hills Epic
Reviews for this trail
Write A ReviewCURRENT AVERAGE
3.5
OUT OF 5 BADGERS
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Hi I did this one on but got a bit lost after divis missing out wolfhill quarry but came out a bit below it. Had a really good time though and its definately do-able by the average rider as I'm new to cycling and managed it ok. Cheers Colin
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If you fancy a longer spin but can't be bothered driving to Rostrevor or the Cooleys etc I'd highly recommend the Belfast Hills Epic.
4 of us did a loop from Carryduff in July using the map provided by Trailbadger and were pleasantly surprised!
The route across the hills does not take that long (1.5 hours from Divis to Cave Hill) and is mostly on fireroad. The majority of the time/miles are clocked up getting from start to finish!
All in you're looking at around 35 miles, 3-4 hours and 3000ft of climbing (mostly on tar).
3 Badgers for me and worth a go!
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I really enjoyed this ride. I done a big loop from my house to cavehill and back again. The ride took 5hrs, was 35 miles long with about 40-50% being off-road.
I picked the foggiest day ever to do it which meant zero views and tough navigation but it was a good ride nonetheless but be prepared for a bit of climbing!
The route went like this:
1. 8 miles of tarmac to Divis Mountain (good starting point for non-locals as there's a car park on Divis Road at the entrance to Divis mountain).
2. Round the bottom of Divis (on a good day its worth going up to top of divis and black mountain for some photos, plus you can reach speeds of 50mph on the descent again! 48mph recorded by my bike computer!)
3. Along the Tipperary trail (see national trust map - google Divis Mountain) to the corner where the fireroad turns down towards belfast.
4. At this point you have to get off the fireroad, cross bog land, climb over a fence, cross a field consisting of 2 rivers and a few marshes, all to link up with the boundary of Wolfhill quarry. You can use the map contours and the little hut marked on the map to guide you. Checking out google earth also gives you a good idea. This 'hike-a-bike' part lasts about 400m.
5. Climb over the fence onto the fireroad through Wolfhill quarry - lots of options for mucking about in here for a while.
6. Exit quarry, turning right onto Ballyhill road. Turn left before sharp corner onto small link road. Turn left on ballyutoag road then right onto Flush road.
7. Take concrete farmers lane (as ciaran mentioned) on right about 500m up flush road. This lane goes through two farms so I'm not sure how safe it is to tresspass - I didn't stop to find out! Again google earth will help show which turn offs to take in order to get you out onto the Upper Hightown Road. You can see the road once you get to the top of squires hill so it ain't too hard to find your way.
8. Turn right onto Upper Hightown Road, then left into Cavehill Country Park car park.
9. Follow McArts fort walker trail (start is signed). This is singletrack grass/mud the whole way up to top of cavehill and is mostly cyclable apart from the few fences that need crossed. (it would be much more fun in the opposite direction!)
10. Summit cavehill, cycling over to behind napoleans nose where you will find the beginning of the infamous 'Quarry Trail'. This is one sweet (and muddy) trail which you can follow the whole way down to the entrance to belfast castle off the Antrim Road. Be courteous to walkers though - as it is used a lot by them too - most will get out of your way.
11. Cycle down innisfayle Park onto Antrim road, turning right onto North Circular Road, cycling up through Ballysillan, turning right and heading up through Ligoniel onto Ballyhill road again (this bits probably the worst climb!)
12. Follow Ballyhill road past Wolfhill Quarry (or go into the quarry and retrace your steps back to Divis if you don't fancy the road) and continue for about 4 miles till you reach Budore Road.
13. Turn left into budore road, continue on this road till you reach divis road on the left. This will take u back up to the Divis Mountain car park. I continued straight one and cycled another 7 miles or so back to my house.
In conclusion a great little ride with crackin views and plenty of doable climbs. You have the option to extend your playtime in Wolfhill quarry and the trails in Cavehill.
I enjoy it because I get all the exercise from a standard long road ride plus all the thrills from the singletrack as well. Not to mention that I can cycle from my doorstep (outside Stoneyford).
Big thanks to Trailbadger (and Ciaran) for the map and directions.
Have a go people! -
Nice mini epic with a mix of road, lane, singletrack and open moorland. Fair bit of climbing involved but easily doable for the average rider.
Don't do it if your expecting drops-off's & jumps, it is very much XC riding.
Great views over Belfast from any of the hills.
