Branching out

GO IRELAND:OF ALL THE miserable consequences of the country being bust, the putative sale of Coillte is surely the most miserable. Just what do they expect us to do at weekends?

Far from simply being a mere grower of trees, the State forestry body has long since morphed into a national entertainment agency. Having rebranded its forests as recreation sites, it’s become a kindly aunt to the nation, encouraging us all to get out, get some fresh air and exercise.

By Coillte’s own account, an estimated 18 million of us do just that annually, enjoying lands which amount to 7 per cent of the country’s entire mass, equivalent to two middling-sized counties.

What’s more, apart from the odd car parking fee, this entire, million-acre outdoor playground is absolutely free. So how long do you think that will last under private ownership? Possibly the best way to show concern, or at least make the most of this wonderful amenity before the new owners install security guards, is to get out and enjoy it.

Many’s the Dub who got their first taste for the great outdoors in the Coillte parks around the Dublin Mountains, with the best possible way to keep little legs going being the tales of derring don’t at the Hellfire Club, at which the devil himself is said to have made an appearance.

Older kids can enjoy the orienteering courses, of which a variety are in situ, with maps – and cheat sheets – downloadable from the Coillte website.

In Wicklow, Djouce Woods on the Enniskerry to Roundwood road is another favourite for the capital’s denizens, with walks that bring you right up and over Powercourt Waterfall.

We’re all just getting into the mountain biking and Coillte has been actively encouraging this with the development of purpose-built trails around the country.

The Ballyhoura Mountain Bike Trail, between Limerick and Cork, has runs ranging from an easy 6km to a challenging 50km loop, each waymarked and colour coded, so we can’t get lost.

Last year, the new 8km Ticknock Mountain Bike Trail opened, within filing distance of the office workers in Sandyford. The first such purpose-built track in the Dublin mountains, it was designed by the Coillte Recreation Team and offers fantastic views out over south Dublin.

The Ballinastoe Mountain Bike Trail in Wicklow has 14km of track looking out over Calary bog, the Sugar Loaf and the Irish Sea on the way up and, once you crest the top, dramatic views out over Lough Tay and the Guinness estate.

Longer still is the Derroura Mountain Bike Trail, at the gateway to Connemara, providing panoramic views across the Maam Valley and out towards the Twelve Pins, with Lough Corrib in its entirety down below you at the halfway point.

Much of Coillte’s lands are of historic interest too. Avondale Forest Park in Rathdrum is the 214-hectare former home of Charles Stuart Parnell, and regarded as the birthplace of Irish forestry, having been purchased by the State in 1904. There are six waymarked trails here, including a new Railway Walk from Rathdrum train station to Avondale House.

Here, too, you can get orienteering maps from the Coillte website for a terrific day out, not least because there’s a coffee shop on the site.

At some parks the amenities are even greater. You could have an entire holiday at Lough Key Forest Park in Roscommon, with camping facilities as well as a restaurant, high wire adventure park and children’s play ground. There are also the remains of four ring forts – and that’s the other thing about Coillte’s parks, there’s just so much learning in them for the kids.

At Burren in west Cavan, for example, it’s history, with more than 30 megalithic tombs. At Mullaghmeen in Westmeath, it’s geography, with turloughs in the limestone to discover.

Who could visit Ravensdale Forest in Louth, part of the Táin Trail, without evoking Celtic mythology, while a walk round the Tintern Trails in Wexford gives rise to everything from history to religion and even poetry.

Trees are just the start of it.