At Portadown People's Park and Lurgan Park · Portadown People's Park, Portadown / Lurgan Park, Windsor Avenue, Lurgan, Co. Armagh
A morning spent pond dipping with a net in hand is hard to beat for a child aged six to ten. This session from Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council gives children a hands-on introduction to local wildlife across two of Co. Armagh’s most-loved parks. Sessions run at Portadown People’s Park and Lurgan Park as part of the Get Active ABC summer programme. It costs £2 per child and booking is essential - places go quickly once dates open.
The Young Conservationists sessions pack a lot into a morning. Children try pond dipping - nets, trays, and a good look at whatever they pull up - alongside bug hunts in the grass and scrub, guided nature walks through the park, and arts and crafts linked to what they find. Sessions are run by the council’s parks and leisure staff, who know the parks well and pitch activities at the right level for younger children.
Portadown People’s Park has a renovated historic pond at the centre of the wildlife activities. The 12-acre park has wildflower meadows and bird boxes installed as part of ongoing biodiversity work, so there is genuine wildlife to find. Lurgan Park, on Windsor Avenue, is a larger Victorian park with its own lake and mature wooded areas - a different setting but equally well-suited to this kind of session. The two venues run as separate sessions, so families in either town can choose the more convenient location.
Portadown sits on the A3, roughly midway between Newry and Belfast. The People’s Park is off Woodhouse Street in the town centre with nearby street parking. Portadown train station is a short walk away and has regular services on the Belfast - Dublin Enterprise line, which also stops at Lurgan. Lurgan Park is on Windsor Avenue, about ten minutes’ walk from Lurgan station.
The People’s Park is worth arriving a little early for - the play area, picnic tables, and open lawns make it an easy place to spend the rest of the morning after the session wraps up. There is more to see in Portadown and across Co. Armagh.
Heading to Portadown People's Park and Lurgan Park in Portadown? Armagh has plenty more to see. Read the Portadown area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.