Family Activities

For families wanting to spend a day at Castlecomer Discovery Park, there are plenty of activities on offer.

Nature Trails

With 80 acres of woodland and 6km of trails surrounding two lakes, Castlecomer Discovery Park has plenty of room for exploration. Families can liven up a walk and improve their overall experience by picking up one of our Nature Trails from the reception desk. Available at a cost of only €10, the trails use questions about the park and nature puzzles to encourage families to explore and appreciate the woodlands. Trails are available all year round and are adapted regularly to take account of seasonal changes in the trees and plants. Each family to complete a trail gets a prize.

Alongside the Nature Trails, this year we will run a series of family trails to celebrate different holidays and events throughout 2010. For further information on these, please look at our upcoming events page. Click on link below.

Seasonal Activities

As well as the ongoing family trails, we also organise specific seasonal events for families usually based around the woodlands. Our Elves Workshop located in a cave beside the lake is very popular in December. We also run Easter Egg hunts and special Halloween trails and events. For details of upcoming events click here. If you would lake to receive e-mails about our events, you can sign up for our newsletter.

Workshops

From time to time, we organise family workshops based on specific themes such as fossils, trees, or invertebrates. These are generally 2 hour workshops aimed at children between 6 and 12 years old with an accompanying adult.

Footprints in Coal

Of course no trip to Castlecomer Discovery Park would be complete without a visit to the ‘Footprints in Coal’ Experience. Very popular with adults and children alike, this interactive multimedia exhibition uses fossils, life-size and scale models, video clips and mining artefacts to tell the complete story of the Castlecomer Coal from its formation 300 million years ago through over 300 years of mining history to the closure of the coal mines in 1969.

For further details see Footprints in Coal Experience

Fishing

Families can also try fishing on our rainbow trout lakes.

For further details see Fishing

Adventure Playground

Our adventure playground is designed around the themes of the ‘Footprints in Coal’ exhibition with coal trucks and prehistoric animals constructed from timber. It is open to the public all year round and is suitable for children under 14 years. Children should be supervised by an adult.

For more information on Family Activities contact Castlecomer Discovery Park