The Glens of Antrim

Today we hiked through Glenariff Forest Park. The view from the top of the hike looking down to Waterfoot village and the Irish sea is quite lovely. I didn’t bring my camera and David’s phone photo from the top of the hike wasn’t very clear. His photo of one of the waterfalls turned out better.

The hike leader, David Doyle, was surprised that the hike was rated only one star out of five on TripAdvisor. The reason for this, I think, is that much of the forest you hike through is either a regimented, commercially planted coniferous forest--or a recently harvested stubble field. If Americans go hiking in a forest, they aren’t expecting a tree plantation.
The lower sections and the sections along the river are lovely, it’s just the upland hills that are tree factories. You find this in sections of the Mournes as well. I guess people have a right to make their land productive. It’s just that hiking through miles of non-native, fast-growing pine trees doesn’t have quite the same feels as being in a living forest rich with diverse flora and fauna.
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