Colin Glen Forest Park — Attraction in Ballycullo

Read the website and decided to follow the itinerary of parking at the river entrance, walk up to bull run do the bull run and walk back down to the car, technically plenty of time to do so as we got there about 1pm and had the bull run at 3.

While the walk itself is nice, Gruffalo statues while a little ran down are still great for the kids. Takes under an hour from the river car park to the bull run going the lng way.

Staff at the bull run is really friendly, and helpful, kid friendly, and seem well trained to run the place.

However it wasn’t a great experience overall: -litter everywhere! Everywhere you look there’s plastic bottles and rubbish al over the river. This could be an amazing setting but it’s so poorly maintained that you just don’t see the sights, just rubbish everywhere. : -bull run price. It’s a fun ride, but over an hour, you’re queuing 50 minutes, going down 1.5 minutes and up 10. The ride itself takes 3 minutes, with only about 30 seconds downhill. At 20+quid per person it’s not worth it.

-car par time va activity time. Our bull runs was booked for 3, it takes 1 hour, the river car park closes at 5, it takes under 30 minutes to go from the bull run to the river car park. No issue! But the bull run was delayed due to overbooking, so we weren’t on before 3:50, which delayed everything.. except the river car park closure. I had to run down to the car park, forfeiting my last ride to make sure my car didn’t get locked up down there.

Overall...

⭐ 1/5 - AVOID Fear Forest Halloween Event! Total waste of money! Paid £40 for spectator tickets and literally got nothing but a toasted marshmallow. Marketing promised "demonic clowns and spine-chilling Halloween characters lurking in the shadows" - what a joke! Spectators are forced to just stand around waiting for others to return from the zip line and forest walk. Even those who did the full experience felt ripped off. One guy in our group said his wife was scarier when he tries to go to the pub! 😂 The kids were so disappointed. If you've ever been to Cloona House events (which are amazing), this doesn't even come close. They oversold this massively. The marketing talked about "a terrifying landscape" and "spine-chilling characters" but delivered nothing close to that. Now I'm worried about the Christmas event I booked too. Save your money and go elsewhere. £40 for a marshmallow and standing around in the cold? No thanks! The only scary thing about this "Fear Forest" was how much they charged for such a terrible experience. Pros: They can toast a marshmallow. A really lovely member of staff who took our photos.

Cons: Massively overpriced Nothing for spectators to do Not scary at all Poorly organised Misleading marketing Disappointed children

The only one of its kind - thankfully! Because...

Visited 27/12/2024 and parked for free at the Colin Glen Centre end. Signs state Car Park closes at 5pm, what isn’t clear is the Cafe closes at 2.40pm so our Granddaughter was upset it was closed after the walk we had as she was looking forward to a treat. There was a helpful lady at the centre shop and purchased a couple of Gruffalo toys as a memento of the visit 👍🏽

There are 4 trail paths ranging from 2km to 6.5km, we went on the Yellow trail nicknamed Englishtown trail which was 3.5km and was just manageable for 4yr old granddaughter, although few steep inclines did require lifts to assist the journey, which we did in an 1hr 45mins with stops to take pictures. A few benches along route but if mobility is an issue, pace yourself and maybe bring a walking/hiking stick aid that can handle leafy/muddy paths

A recommended place to visit either by self or with family/friends

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for the forest park ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for the gift shop (range wasn’t big and prices a tad high) ⭐️ for the cafe for not matching the times of...