traveloehrs

“Is this place even open? Why aren’t there any cars?” Junebug was perplexed as we had seen plenty of other people at most of our other stops during the day. We parked and Lianne said she would walk down the trail a bit to have a look and make sure it was accessible. Junebug hopped out and ran with her. Lennox and I sat in the car and waited. About 10 minutes later, Junebug came barreling back towards us. “Dada, it’s time to saddle up! This place looks awesome!”

We had spent the day exploring the Coastal Causeway Route on the far north coast of Northern Ireland. It was a packed day with stops at the The Dark Hedges, The Giant’s Causeway, Bushmills, then lunch at a café before going to Dunluce Castle. Unfortunately, the Dunluce Castle was closed so we couldn’t walk into it. The kids really wanted to explore a castle and were bummed. We saw that the Kinbane Castle was nearby, so we decided to go have a look as a consolation prize.

After Junebug and Lianne found out that Kinbane Castle was accessible Junebug was very excited. She rustled Lennox and I from the car and we got on the trail. After a full day of hikes and walking, Lennox needed intermittent carrying. With my fractured ribs still healing, Lianne was on donkey duty and carried Lennox most of the 140 very steep steps down (she also got to carry him back up, lol).

The actual hike was amazing. There were views of a waterfall cascading into the ocean, 4 caves, the castle ruins and a peninsula that offered a nearly 360-degree water view. We appreciated the solitude even more after being surrounded by other tourists at most of the previous stops throughout the day. After about an hour of enjoying the area, a Danish backpacker showed up on her own. We chatted with her for a few minutes and all of us were in awe over the natural beauty of the area. She took a couple family pictures for us and then we made our way back so she could enjoy the beautiful surroundings on her own. It’s always a treat to find an uncrowded gem of a spot so close to a well-traveled area.

Short video from our hike to the Kinbane Castle