7 National Trust Divis and the Black Mountain Traditional Cache
7 National Trust Divis and the Black Mountain
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The cache is a traditional cache which will take you across the property and a little off the beaten track at the National Trust Divis and the Black Mountain.
Divis and the Black Mountain rest in the heart of the Belfast Hills which provide the backdrop to the city’s skyline. They are rich in wildlife, archaeology and history, with spectacular views across Northern Ireland and beyond.
See rare species in their natural habitat
Our property is significant for biodiversity with red grouse, stonechats, skylark, snipe and other upland breeding birds, while kestrels, peregrine falcons and ravens feed in the area. There are several occupied badger setts and on a walk through this habitat you may encounter a hiding Irish Hare or see a Marsh Fritillary butterfly flitting about. The mountains comprise a mosaic of grassland heath and bog. The heath is made up mainly of heather species but a closer look reveals some interesting flora such as the heath spotted orchid. Along the short grasses on the river banks you may unearth the many colours of waxcaps during the autumn and winter months. Thirteen species of waxcap fungi have already been identified on the site; one of them is a new record for Northern Ireland. A number of species found here in the mountains are identified as Northern Ireland Priority Species.
Divis and the Black Mountain came into the care of the National Trust in November 2004 and opened to the public in June 2005. There are walking trails along a variety of terrain – through heath, on stone tracks, along boardwalk and road surface, including the start of the 10km Divis Mountain to Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park Trail.
The property is a working farm with free roaming cattle between April and November.
Please wear suitable footwear and clothing for walking in the area. The mountain environment can change rapidly. Please keep dogs under close control at all times.
Parking and entrance is free, but please note that the car park closes at 8pm - car park co-ordinates are N54' 35.950 W006' 02.530.
All of the caches can be done as part of the Divis and Black Mountain Series. The whole series will take approximately 7 hours to complete so ensure you have adequate snacks and water to sustain you.
This cache is also not far off the 10 mile Divis to Dixon Walk, so can be incorporated into that route.
The route to this cache can be travelled along a well established route for most of the way, although the latter stage of the route is off the beaten track, so come prepared for this. Allow approximately 3 hours to find this cache and return to the car park. Alternatively, why not combine this cache with cache 6 in the series, dropping down to it from the summit of Divis?
The Cache
The cache is a medium sized camouflaged lockable lunchbox with geocache label on the lid. A small selection of usual swaps were available at the time of placing the cache as well as a National Trust Divis and the Black Mountain marker - if you're going to visit a geocache anywhere else in the world why not take it with you? There are also some information pamphlets included - feel free to take one with you.
If following the route along the Standing Stone Road, this is not a particularly challenging walk in terms of terrain, but is one of the longer walks offered here. The scenery here is beautiful and on the journey to the cache look out for some of our spectacular wildlife, from insects to plants and from Irish Hare to Kestrels. Look around water pools and puddles for newts and keep an eye out for lizards basking in the sunshine. You will also pass some of our unique archaeology on your way out to this cache and you will pass the standing stone which gives this road its’ name, reputedly a meeting place for the United Irishmen. The road will bring you as far as the back gate to the property and to find the cache, follow our fence line, staying within our property, from here to the left towards the old quarry munitions hut(with Belfast at your back). The cache is near the headwaters of the Forth River.
Please be careful when uncovering the cache, muggles may approach from either direction so please be discreet when taking out the cache and hiding it again. If you see anything you like in the cache box, please trade up or even so everyone can enjoy the contents.
At the Long Barn there are toilet facilities, hot drinks and a picnic area for you to stop at as you head out on your journey. You can also borrow one of our GPS navigators from the Long Barn with all of our geocaches pre-loaded for your convenience.
Good luck and enjoy your trip from one end of the National Trust property to the other!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ybbx sbe n Unjgubea Gerr nybat gur thyyl.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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