Top 20 Most Visited Coillte Recreational Parks Revealed

 

• 10% uplift in the number of visits to Coillte’s most popular recreational forests
• Avondale Forest Park, Co. Wicklow in first place – home of the unique visitor destination, Beyond the Trees Avondale
• Over 250 Coillte recreational parks offer the perfect family day out this Halloween mid-term

 

Playground in Coillte’s Rossmore Forest Park

 

[29th October 2025]: Coillte today announced details of its Top 20 most visited recreational forests in Ireland according to visitor statistics recorded in 2024. The data shows a 10% uplift in the number of visits to Coillte’s most popular recreational forests year on year, demonstrating that more and more people are enjoying the outdoors in their local Coillte forest.

Avondale Forest Park in Co. Wicklow ranked in first place with almost 350,000 visits recorded last year. Avondale Forest Park is home to the visitor destination Beyond the Trees Avondale which officially opened in July 2022. In addition to Avondale House, the home of Charles Stewart Parnell, it now boasts a unique Treetop Walk and Viewing Tower, Ireland’s longest slide and for the Halloween season, will offer a Spooktacular Halloween Twilight Trail and family fun activities.

Rossmore Forest Park in Co. Monaghan, which boasts a variety of walking trails around Rossmore Castle, surrounding lakes where fishing is available, family cycling trails, and nature tracks, attracted the second highest number of visits in 2024, with over 340,000 visitors recorded. Ticknock in Co. Dublin, which offers several walking and hiking trails, as well as mountain-bike tracks and orienteering courses, followed in third place with over 260,000 visits last year.

Over three million people visited Coillte’s top 50 most popular recreational woodlands and parks in 2024. The data indicates a growing interest from the public in local outdoor recreation, with many visitors to Coillte sites enjoying walks through recreational parks and woodlands where they can explore nature and biodiversity. There are also a host of activities available at various locations including cycling, fishing, orienteering, horse-riding and ziplining.

Coillte is the largest provider of outdoor recreation in Ireland with a total of 260 forest recreational areas, twelve forest parks and six mountain bike centres nationwide.

 

The full Top 20 list of Coillte’s most visited recreational sites is as follows:

 

Ranking	Coillte Recreational Site	Visitor Number 2024
1	Avondale Forest Park, Co. Wicklow	344,765*
2	Rossmore Forest Park, Co. Monaghan	343,074
3	Ticknock, Co. Dublin	264,441
4	Donadea Forest Park, Co. Kildare	216,942
5	Tintern, Co. Wexford	169,064
6	Lough Key Forest & Activity Park, Co. Roscommon	139,000
7	Hellfire, Co. Dublin	134,583
8	Killykeen Forest Park, Co. Cavan	103,000
9	Jenkinstown Wood, Co. Kilkenny	101,875
10	Cong, Co. Galway	87,369
11	Ards Forest Park, Co. Donegal	87,116*
12	Hazelwood, Co. Sligo	85,795
13	Belleek, Co. Mayo	82,249
14	Mullaghreelan, Co. Kildare	75,586
15	Curragh Chase Forest Park, Co. Limerick	71,357
16	Millennium Woods, Co. Kilkenny	61,532
17	Deerpark Virginia, Co. Cavan	56,999
18	Cruagh, Co. Dublin	56,145
19	Glenbarrow, Co. Laois	51,685
20	Devil’s Glen, Co. Wicklow	46,726

 

*In 2024, counters at these locations were repositioned within the forest areas to permit more accurate data to be captured on visitor numbers.

 

Coillte’s head of recreation, Daithi de Forge, said: “As Ireland’s largest provider of outdoor recreation spaces, Coillte is delighted to see the growth in visitor numbers to three million, across our most popular recreational sites in 2024. This increase highlights the importance of outdoor recreation and reflects a growing demand by the public to spend time in nature.

“Storm Éowyn caused unprecedented damage in January to our productive and recreational forests, as well as to biodiversity areas across the country. Almost 100 Coillte recreation locations were closed after the storm and we’re pleased that 92 of these sites have since reopened following significant efforts by the Coillte team, with just eight sites remaining closed at this time. These eight sites require detailed recovery works given the scale of the damage caused and we remain committed to recovering these four sites and reopening them to the public as soon as possible.

“Coillte is also pleased to continue its partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, which will enable the improvement and restoration of Coillte forests and amenities nationwide. With an open forest policy, Coillte is proud to support local businesses who enhance the services available in our forests, and we look forward to continuing the delivery of the highest quality outdoor recreation experiences for communities across Ireland.”

Earlier in 2025, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht announced that it will invest over €4 million at Coillte recreational sites this year. This funding will be dedicated towards new trail infrastructure, ongoing maintenance and repair of damage caused by recent storms including Storm Éowyn in January of this year. This funding is critical to ensure the upkeep and improvement of locations and ensures the continued safety for visitors seeking to enjoy the outdoors and reap the benefits that nature offers to health and wellbeing.

For more information on Coillte recreation sites and forests, visit: www.coillte.ie

//ENDS//

 

For more information, please contact:

Rachel Power, Q4PR: rachel@q4pr.ie / 087 939 9605

Sabrina D’Angelo, Q4PR: sabrina@q4pr.ie / 086 032 3397

 

Notes to Editor

Coillte, Ireland’s semi-state forestry company, is responsible for managing 440,000 hectares of primarily forested land making it Ireland’s largest forest manager. Coillte aims to balance and deliver the multiple benefits of its forests for climate, nature, wood and people. Coillte is the largest provider of outdoor recreation in Ireland with 260 forest recreational areas, twelve forest parks and six mountain bike centres nationwide. As part of its strategic vision, Coillte has an ambition to double the number of recreation areas to 500 to benefit the wellbeing of individual visitors as well as local communities.

Visitor numbers for 2024 were calculated using Nomad Counter data across Coillte’s most popular 47 recreational sites, which utilises infra-red heat sensors to measure visitors to forest sites and recreational parks.

The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht has a strategic partnership in place with Coillte via a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU agrees to provide €15 million for the period 2022-2026 to Coillte to enhance recreational facilities on Coillte land and to support increased tourism and economic activity in rural areas.