Nice little area in Darkley forest for children and families to wander around and look at the fairies. It's not far from the carpark and there's no need to walk around the rest of the forest. The rest of the forest involves longer walks, which can be quite steep in some locations.

Lovely early summer walk, lots of little trails to follow through the woods

A nice area to bring younger children to visit. It is also only a short distance from the free car park which has around ten spaces. However there are no toilets or refreshment facilities. It is a nice place to bring children to visit for a short time if you live locally or are in the area.

Darkley Fairy Village is a small area within Darkley Forest. Please see below for a review of Darkley Forest which contains comments about Darkley Fairy Village:- Darkley Forest is a small, mainly coniferous plantation set on a steep sloping valley above the River Callan. The information board states the longest walk is 1.9 miles although from the time taken, I think it may be closer to 2.5 miles. The plantation is surrounded by a border of old deciduous trees and there are a few such trees located at various spots within the densely planted coniferous plantation. The old deciduous trees are really nice and photogenic, they are all knarled and covered with moss. Unfortunately, walking through the coniferous plantation is like walking through any other plantation - pretty bland. FACILITIES: There is a small, surfaced car park with 10 spaces (including 1 disabled parking space). There are 2 litter bins. There's no picnic area, play park, toilets, cafe or shop. The nearest public toilets I could find were in a filling station/shop in nearby Keady (there's only 1 toilet for both males and females, and it doesn't have a plastic seat, but at least it was reasonably hygenic and it flushed first time). ACCESSIBILITY: All the paths are gravel and are well maintained. The paths are wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side, although in many places they narrow to only permit walking in single file. The gradients from the car park down to, and up from the River Callan can be fairly steep in places. It's a bit of a slog back up from the Callan to the car park. I would suggest that these paths are not suitable for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and strollers because of the gradients and their narrowness in places. SIGNAGE: Very good information board and waymarked trails, although in a forest this small with circular paths, you would really have to try hard to get lost. WILDLIFE: As the forest is over 90% densely planted with coniferous trees, I did not expect to see much wildlife and I didn't. I saw a couple of small flocks of Finches and Tits and that's all. OTHER POINTS TO NOTE: 1 - If you are visiting with young children, the Fairy Village is worth a look. Evidently local families select a tree and decorate it as a "Fairy House". 2 - Where the path runs parallel to the Callan, there are several dozen brightly painted bird nest boxes. These were probably put there as some sort of community project by children from the local primary school. 3 - Although the forest is quite high up, the few views you get of the surrounding countryside are unspectacular. 4 - Last but not least - there was absolutely no evidence of dog fouling, which is a very widespread, persistent and unpleasant problem in many similar locations across Northern Ireland. This was a really pleasant surprise. SUMMARY: I was only going to give Darkley Forest 4 stars because it is mainly coniferous and the views are nothing special, but because of the lack of dog fouling (at the time of my visit), It gets 5 stars.

Great place for children and adults. Let the imagination run wild and search for the little fairies up in the trees throughout the forest.

Not far away from home