Ravenhill Reach
Ravenhill Reach has a car parking and good river access. Ravenhill Reach is stretch of land along the bank of the river Lagan. The land had been a part of Ormeau Park before it was separated by a new road (Ormeau Embankment) that cut through the park to link the Ravenhill Roadto the Ormeau Road. This land had in latter days become derelict and underused, however thanks to redevelopment work by the Laganside Corporation, Ravenhill Reach is now an attractive riverside setting and a ideal place for canoeists to enter the river, thanks to a mooring pontoon or the slipway. The Laganside Corporation has also added riverside walkways and cycle ways.
Thanks to funding by the European Union significant environmental improvements have been made. In order to improve water quality and reduce the release of unpleasant smelling gases from the riverbed, Laganside Corporation implemented several schemes including a number of dredging operations and the installation of a riverbed aeration system. The bubbles can be seen as you paddle this stretch of the river.
The Ormeau Park adjacent to Ravenhill Reach is the oldest municipal park in Belfast purchased by the City Council from the Marquis of Donegal in 1869, this 175 acres site was opened to the public in 1871. The layout of the park remains in keeping with the original, except for the introduction of a golf course, playing fields and a road along the embankment.
Thanks to funding by the European Union significant environmental improvements have been made. In order to improve water quality and reduce the release of unpleasant smelling gases from the riverbed, Laganside Corporation implemented several schemes including a number of dredging operations and the installation of a riverbed aeration system. The bubbles can be seen as you paddle this stretch of the river.
The Ormeau Park adjacent to Ravenhill Reach is the oldest municipal park in Belfast purchased by the City Council from the Marquis of Donegal in 1869, this 175 acres site was opened to the public in 1871. The layout of the park remains in keeping with the original, except for the introduction of a golf course, playing fields and a road along the embankment.
View Canoeondown in a larger map