Runkerry Beach & Bushfoot Strand
Runkerry Beach, or as it is sometimes known, Bushfoot Strand, is a spectacular 500m long 80m wide sandy beach facing northwest. This gloriously positioned beach is beyond Bushfoot Golf Club and easily accessible via the Portballintrae end of the beach. A beautiful walking path along the tramway offers spectacular coast and North Atlantic views.
Runkerry Beach, also known as Blackrock or Bushfoot Strand, is a bay. The nearest town is Portballintrae.
Bushfoot Strand is a beautiful beach just under a mile long on the northern side and mouth of the Bush River mouth, famous for surfing, walking and dolphin watching!
The beach can have quite a slope during high tide; use care.
Runkerry Beach is ‘One of the best surfing beaches in the UK, the waves vary between a low 2ft in summer and a massive 12ft during stormy weather’ according to www.coastradar.com
The sweeping views from Bushfoot Strand are tremendous; visiting across the ocean, heathland, and headlands is a pleasure.
Bushmills Heritage Railway
The Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills Railway runs through the sand dunes above Runkerry Beach, over the River Bush, with views of Runkerry headland on its 15-minute trip between Bushmills and The Giant’s Causeway.
This fantastic, short, and spectacular North Coast train Journey is an excellent experience for people of all ages and a real treat for train enthusiasts! It is our preferred way to arrive for a visit to the Giant’s Causeway! The line starts at the railway station just outside Bushmills Town on Ballaghmore Road to Portballintrae.
Giants Causeway and Bushmills Railway
The Giants Causeway and Bushmills Railway leaves from just outside Bushmills Village on its 20-minute journey of 2 miles to and from the mouth of the river Bush, overlooking Runkerry Headland to the Giants Causeway along the track bed of what used to be the Giants Causeway Tram. The diesel locomotive runs 4 times daily between 11am and 2.30pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Children, in particular, love being on the train. Visit Giants Causeway and Bushmills Railway
Runkerry House with inspirational views.
From the beach, you will see the most amazing views over the basalt cliffs and headlands of Runkerry Point, with a gorgeous view of the awesome Runkerry House, a stately home built in the 1860s for Sir Edward Macnaghten, who was a barrister and politician from London. This sandstone building is now private apartments.
Runkerry Beach a Morphing Beach…
The beach at Bushfoot, Runkerry or Bushfoot Strand, absorbs more energy from ocean waves than any other in Northern Ireland.
Its constantly changing beach morphology in response to seasonal changes in sea conditions provides a textbook example of beach states.” ~ www.habitas.org.uk
