Lough Key Forest Park

Great place to stay. It has just shy of 50 pitches. Most of the pitches are set within the woods with plenty of privacy and space. Campsite has a small playground for kids. We have two boys and they love coming here, their favourite campsite so far. So much for them to do even with covid. Some pitches are close to the tent areas. All pitches have electricity and grey water disposal. Water taps are spread through the site so never too far away.

ZipIT - ziplines fun
Lots of forest walks or cycle paths
Lake nearby
Make huts or dens in the woods around the campsite or play tip the can.
Off road cycle path all the way to boyle.

In non covid times there is also Bord a Borg, Adventure playground and a skywalk.

At 25 euro a night its great value.

Bookings can be made on the website with the ability to book which ever pitch you like. Only downside side is sometimes you have to go through all the pitches to find which one has availability.

loughkey.ie/lough-key-park/caravan-park/

6 nites here from august 9th. Pricing (caravan and Motorhomes, tent prices differ ) is simple, 22.50 per nite irrespective of occupants and 2:50 for EHU, costing us approx €125 for the stay. Showers are €2 by token for 5 mins, a tad excessive and we mostly used our own shower facilities. Toilets and shower block are clean, however the interior roof of the shower units needs a
good steam cleaning as mould and moss are visible. 

all facilities with the exception of the games room are open, and the site is not currently taking tents, however some were there as they had booked before the restrictions. 

the week prior to our arrival saw a lot of rainfall, and our pitch ( no 16) which was an in an open area had suffered from a lot of lying water, however as the pitches were large we were able to pitch our awning on the tarmac. Adjacent to the site is the magnificent lough key forest park with water sports, viewing tower, bike and walking trails, zip lining ( booked out solid for the next 2 weeks!) and on-site coffee and food truck. Following on from Chris’s recommendation we discovered Geocaching and enjoyed it immensely. Nearby are the towns of Boyle and carrick on Shannon and you won’t be found wanting for things to do and see. 

water and EHU points are generously spread throughout the site and rubbish is dealt with by means of recycling bins, mostly full but not overflowing. They really need to install a bin for BBQ ash. 

A child friendly site, but you could hear a pin drop after 10pm as they were all exhausted from the days activities. A private security company patrol at nite to ensure no messing.

all in  all a top site and a top location and definatly back on the list for next year.
 

Following on from our last visit here, which was in a caravan, this time we spend a rainey weekend here in our motorhome. Price had risen to €30 / nite. showers were free this weekend as they has some sort of issue with the hot water, however, we found the water to be roasting. As per my previous review, the roof in the shower areas haven't seen a clean in a while I recon.

My observations as a motorhome owner, there is no dedicated motorhome service area per se. There is a drain at each pitch to dispose of grey water. However, this drain is the same as you would find at the end of your downpipe from your gutters at home, probably 6" square (on the right hand side of the pitch). Not ideal if your trying to line up the waste water drain pipe on your rig. Our rig is a left hand drive, all drainage pipes on the left also. This meant we could not position our rig to have the water pour into the small drain. So I had to drain into a bucket and transfer it to the drain pipe, not ideal ( especially after a night of Guinness....). caravans had it easier as they piped their grey water directly into the drain.

Just something to bear in mind, other than that a great site and well maintained. Also note it does suffer from a high water table and any rain is slow to drain off, especially in the area opposite the check in office, to the left as you enter the site. We were on pitch 51 which was cosy and tarmacadamed. Overall a good site, but not sure if id visit again in a motorhome for the reasons I've outlined. For familys its ideal!

 

liamk wrote:

"So I had to drain into a bucket and transfer it to the drain pipe, not ideal ( especially after a night of Guinness....). caravans had it easier as they piped their grey water directly into the drain".

There has to be some advantage to tugging a caravan around the country......  

Charlie 7 me took a trip here to Lough Key Forrest Camping Park, I haven't been here in 12yrs and it was 20yrs before that the first time I was here.

The cost per night per pitch is now €40 YES €40 It may go down after I had a long chat with Keith the site manager.

Than cost includes hook up but you still have to pay for showers.

If you take your car/motorhome down to the adventure centre its €6parking BUT campsite customers get a Free pass from the centre reception.

Some changes are being made on site like a new grey water emptying pitch badly needed for motorhome that's going in place of pitch 33.

All in all like said on other poste a nice trip but would be better if it was a little less than €40


Aaron