Geopark Sites

Plan your visit to include some of our great Geopark sites! With 36 to choose from, there is something to interest everyone.

The Mourne Gullion Strangford aspiring UNESCO Global Geopark takes in the breathtaking beauty of the Ring of Gullion, Mourne Mountains and Strangford & Lecale. The Geopark is jam-packed full of world-class geological marvels, stunning landscapes and a wealth of opportunities to experience the great outdoors. The spectacular beauty of the Geopark has been forged by nature, torn apart by volcanic activity and sculpted by ice, providing a stunning backdrop to remarkable people and places.

The Mourne Gullion Strangford aspiring UNESCO Global Geopark has over 400 million years of geological history. Visiting some of our sites you will catch glimpses of it’s formation. One of the important events in the Geopark’s history was the closure of the ancient Iapetus Ocean and the birth of the North Atlantic Ocean. This lost ocean disappeared as ancient continents moved together and came into collision causing igneous activity.

The rocks that underlie much of the drumlins in Strangford and Lecale areas, were formed from sediment that was deposited on the floor of the Iapetus Ocean. It is composed of greywacke (a type of sandstone), siltstone and mudstone. These hills were shaped by glaciers and their shape helps us to determine the direction the ice was moving.

The Mournes were formed by igneous rock, this rock never erupted but cooled while deep underground in a reservoir of magma around 56 million years ago. Millenia of weathering and erosion, along with glacial activity sculpted the mountains’ distinctive rounded peaks and u-shaped valleys giving us the dramatic profile we see today.