Glenveagh National Park has opened its new parking area creating an 60 additional spaces before the summer season kicks into full swing.
The brand new parking area is joined onto the old car park which has 220 car parking spaces as well as a separate area for buses and coaches.
There had been many calls for more parking spaces at the park over the past number of years with motorists being forced to park outside the park along the main road because of overcrowding.
This led to fears for driver and pedestrian safety and planning permission was sought with Donegal County Council last August for additional spaces.
The work was carried out by Glenveagh staff members, assisted by machine operators from Sheridan Developments.
“This new development is a fantastic addition to the Park and will help address parking problems that in recent years had become a major issue,” Glenveagh National Park wrote on Instagram, alongside drone images of the new car park.
Aerial photograph of the new parking spaces at Glenveagh National Park. @glenveaghofficial Instagram, photo by James Hegarty
Ireland’s second-largest national park attracts more than 200,000 visitors each year and the car park had reached full capacity 24 times during 2021, with cars being turned away on occasion.
In 2021, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage announced a draft Visitor Experience Development and Management Plan (VEDMP) for Glenveagh National Park, in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland, in order to address capacity problems. Part of the plan was to develop a new visitor Gateway Hub and trailhead at the entrance to the popular attraction, a new restaurant and extended parking capacity.
