Visiting the Dark Hedges - GoT's "King's Road".
Hiya folks. Tonight's blog is pulled from my "greatest hits" stash, if you will. It is our visit to one of the coolest roads we've ever seen. It is located in County Antrim in Northern Ireland and it is a tiny road called Bregagh, which has come to be know as "Dark Hedges". Behold!
Incredible, isn't it?? The road is lined with some 95 old growth beech trees. And I mean OLD growth. They were planted in 1775 by the land owner at the time. 1775! The trees you're looking at are one year older than the United States of America, for christ's sake!
^^^A lower, slightly more menacing view.
The road was used in the HBO show Game of Thrones on episode 1 of season 2, when Arya Stark was disguised as a boy and escaped King's Landing.
^^^Dark Hedges in The Game of Thrones. Credit
It was definitely a cool sight to see, but I almost feel guilty now that I've been researching the location for this post. It turns out that it has become a major tourist attraction since it was used in the show and that is now threatening the trees. Beech trees are a surface rooting species and the increased traffic on the road has cause some major concerns for their wellbeing. One estimation says that if the current traffic keeps up, they may only last another 20 years. Hopefully they will close the road to this historic location and only open it to foot traffic.
^^^Photographed from the non-iconic angle.
We really loved our visit to Dark Hedges, and I hope you enjoyed it too! I post a nature-themed blog every day. Please upvote if you enjoyed it and be sure to follow me @customnature so you'll never miss one! See you next time. - Adam
***These daily blogs showcase the natural world. It is all original content using photos, stories, and experiences from my own travels.***
I thought the picture was a painting of Middle-Earth at first, haha. Now I have another item on my bucket list - go see the "Dark Hedges."
Oh yeah, big time. The road fits in so well with the entire fantasy genre. I almost wouldn't have been too alarmed if some elves wandered out of the hedgerow.
Agreed. It would seem natural.
😂
This looks like a place I want to be far away from at night.
Funny you say that! There is a legend that the ghost of the original owner's daughter can be seen here, running from tree to tree.
Very nice! I follow!
Thanks for the compliment, @clodoweg!
Thanks for removing an item from my bucket list. Now that I have seen the road, I don't need to harm the ancient Beeches by treading on their toes.
Very Cool!
Well, if you do go to Northern Ireland, I'd still recommend seeing it in person. Knowing what I do now, I would have just parked along the adjacent road and walked the Dark Hedges road. Foot traffic wouldn't hurt the tree root all. It's the cars and tour busses that are the real problem.
Wow, that is unreal! Putting this down on my bucket list. Great photos sir 👍🏻
Glad to have introduced them to you then, @britt.the.ish!
@photo-trail, If you were to ever feature one of my photographs, one of these would be in my top 10 for sure! That place was awesome.
Will be featured @customnature 😊 These are well done and has an interesting story. Upvoted, resteemed, followed & DPS.
Much obliged, @photo-trail! I don't mind when blogs get overlooked generally, but the dark hedges are definitely one place that deserves discovery.
Very nice post
That is soo cool , would love to see this in real life!