Snowy Loughermore

Saturday 17th February 2018

Loughermore Forest – 6.4 miles

Despite a week of wintry weather Saturday was dry and bright as we headed towards Loughermore Forest on the B69 Limavady/Claudy Road. We parked up just beyond the signage for the forest before backtracking on foot to the Slaughtmanus Road. It was icy underfoot as we made our way towards the start of the track, just before some cottages on the right hand side. As we entered we were met with an avenue of snowdrops.

After scaling the gate we started up a track into the forest ahead.

Even after walking up a short distance the views behind were starting to open up,

and we were stumbling across patches of snow!

The treeline opened out and we had amazing views.

Walking along the tracks the symmetrically planted trees stood upright in the winter sunlight.

After a short time we hit snow again … this time it was a few inches deep, crisp and crunchy, and our footprints were the first human prints!

The day was lovely and bright, and it was turning into a real adventure as it was new territory for us all.

As we started climbing towards the trig point the lying snow became slightly deeper for a short time.

But before long the trees thinned out and Loughermore trig point came into view.

We were really lucky to have great views of Binevenagh, Lough Foyle and Inishowen.

A fantastic day with the added joy of walking in crisp, crunchy snow. A great day spent walking with friends and I think we’ll be back to visit Loughermore again!