\u201cI walk down and think, \u2018wow, we\u2019ve got this amazing place, it\u2019s wonderful\u2019, and I just love seeing people enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
On this sunny Tuesday afternoon, many have come to enjoy the natural phenomenon made famous by its appearance on the TV series Game of Thrones<\/a>. <\/p>\n People make their way the length of the Bregagh Road, beech trees arching above them, then turn and look back towards the former Gracehill House \u2013 now a hotel \u2013 from the far end of what was once its grand, tree-lined avenue. Thompson is right. They are smiling. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s impressive,\u201d says Duncan Lintott from Leeds. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what to expect, and then you get up here and you walk back with the sun on the trees, it\u2019s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the view of the Dark Hedges that people come from all over the world to see; the silver trunks and gnarled, twisted branches which clutch at each other, as if reaching out to hold hands above the narrow country road. <\/p>\n \u201cWe love trees,\u201d says Carolyn Windler from Colorado, \u201cand these are top-notch trees\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s the way they go all twisty at the top,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n [\u00a0Eleven hidden gems: The best lesser-known attractions to visit around Ireland on a budgetOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they connect in the middle too, that they create a tunnel,\u201d adds her cousin, Erica Fraser. \u201cThey\u2019re incredible, they\u2019re so cool … They\u2019re just very unique trees, they look kind of otherworldly. We were just saying, can you imagine how amazing it would be if they were all intact?\u201d <\/p>\n The reality is the Dark Hedges are dying. Originally planted in around 1775, they are diseased and, at 250 years old, are \u201cway, way beyond their expected life expectancy,\u201d says Thompson. <\/p>\n \u201cThese are common beech, and common beech are not indigenous Irish trees \u2026 here, in these climes, it\u2019s very unusual for beech to live over 150 to 200 years.\u201d<\/p>\n Originally, there were more than 150 trees. This had fallen to about 90, and in the last few years storm damage and unavoidable removal of several trees has brought their number down further, to around 75. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a managed decline,\u201d explains Thompson. \u201cThese trees are all coming towards the end of their natural lives, there\u2019s no dispute about that, and we cannot save these trees.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we want to do is make sure they live as long as possible, that people can still get enjoyment out of the site.\u201d <\/p>\n Yet, walking through the trees, the extent of what has been lost becomes apparent. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Game of Thrones trees need management plan to surviveOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n \u201cThere are two really good vistas where you see what seems to be unbroken and undisturbed [trees], but now you have big gaps,\u201d says Thompson. <\/p>\n In these gaps are new beech trees of varying sizes, with the most mature only about 12 years old. <\/p>\n This replanting scheme is one of the ways in which the trust looks after the site; another key role is checking the trees annually, and after every storm. <\/p>\n \u201cWe recognise this is an important tourist location,\u201d says Thompson. \u201cNobody gives us any money to do this, but what we want to do is make sure that those people who come to the site enjoy themselves and do it safely.\u201d <\/p>\n The Hedges\u2019 place on the tourism map is evident. Visitor after visitor explains that they have spent the day exploring the Giant\u2019s Causeway and other sights on the north coast, often as part of a several-week tour of the island. <\/p>\n \u201cThis was one of our special points to see,\u201d says Birgit B\u00f6hm from Frankfurt. \u201cIt\u2019s mystical, and I can imagine when the fog comes that it\u2019s spooky.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was looking for what to see in Ireland, planning the trip,\u201d says M\u00e9lissa Lemieux from Montreal, \u201cand then I saw this wonderful picture of the trees, with the light play, and I was just impressed. And I love trees.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve done the Giant\u2019s Causeway and Dunluce Castle, and then here,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe\u2019re going to Belfast after, to the pubs,\u201d adds her husband, Nicolas Caron. <\/p>\n The trees are free to visit, so it is not known how many people come each year; but, says Thompson, there is no doubt \u201cthe Hedges have enhanced the overall tourism product of the north coast area and the wider Causeway Coast and Glens area, alongside the whole golf tourism\u201d.<\/p>\n A review of the Causeway Coastal Route around the north coast, and its connection to the Wild Atlantic Way<\/a>, is taking place. One aspect of this, Thompson says, is about \u201ctrying to spread the load of visitors from the honey pots of Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, the Giant\u2019s Causeway and so on, and in that is the promotion of various other locations, including here.<\/p>\n![\"Carolyn](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/7U7C4KLQCZGPBDUCXJODVGPXRI.JPG\")
Carolyn Windler, Erica Fraser and Claire Gammon from Colorado pictured at the Dark Hedges avenue of beech trees. Photograph: Stephen Davison <\/p>\n![\"Graham](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/C3SYVVBY75GNTO5IOUXR6FCGNY.JPG\")
Graham Thompson is the CEO of the Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust. Photograph: Stephen Davison <\/p>\n![\"Damage](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/A6XQQMUHGVGIHD465ASVAIFRNE.JPG\")
Damage suffered in recent storms have increased the number of gaps between the trees, marked only by remaining stumps.
\nPhotograph: Stephen Davison <\/p>\n![\"Canadian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CBJP3BPFLZBYPFPQZSSCRRFXOE.JPG\")
Canadian visitors Nicolas Caron, Melissa Lemieux and their 12-year-old son Cedric, from Montreal, pictured at the Dark Hedges. Photograph: Stephen Davison <\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Z4RFAUXP5ZHZRDDZL4GXKFY3OA.JPG\")
The hype around the Game of Thrones series may have subsided but hundreds still visit the Dark Hedges. Photograph: Stephen Davison <\/p>\n