Crockaneel

The walk up Crockaneel from Ballycastle takes about 90 minutes if you're not dawdling, and the views across the Causeway Coast make every step worth it. This isn't a manicured tourist trail - it's proper hill-walking terrain with decent gradients and uneven ground underfoot, so proper boots are essential rather than optional.

What you get at the top is a panorama across the North Antrim coastline that stretches toward the Fair Head cliffs and beyond. On a clear day, you can pick out the Scottish coast in the distance. The peak itself is windswept and exposed, so don't expect shelter, but that exposure is rather the point. You feel genuinely elevated here, not just geographically but in the way that proper summits make you feel.

Walkers will absolutely get the most from this one. It's challenging enough to feel like proper exercise but not so technical that families with older kids can't manage it. Younger children might struggle with the length and the boggy sections, though. There's nothing at the summit - no café, no facilities - so bring water and snacks. Free to access and best tackled early in the day before clouds roll in from the Atlantic.

If you're staying at Watertop Farm nearby, this makes a cracking half-day excursion that doesn't require driving far. The Causeway Coast has plenty of other walking routes, so you could easily build a walking holiday around the area.