Short trip to Mourne Mountains, view of Slieve Muck and then Spelga Dam lake

Spelga Reservoir is a reservoir in the townland of Spelga, in the Mourne Mountains of County Down, Northern Ireland. It was formed by the Spelga Dam, in the area of Deers Meadow, and sits at over 1,200 ft above sea level.

Spelga Dam is located about a 10 mile drive from Newcastle. It is a man made dam built in 1960. It is noted for it’s ability to make cars roll up the hill. Just in front of the dam is a small in road only about 30m long that when people park their cars, turn off the engine, take it out of gear and release the handbrake the car appears to very slowly roll up the hill.

Famed in song and close to the heart of everyone in the Province are the Mourne mountains and their hinterland. Designated in 1986, it is one of the most picturesque mountain districts in Ireland. The twelve peaks include Slieve Donard, which at 850m is Northern Ireland's highest mountain. Beneath the cluster of fine peaks, cliffs and rock pinnacles, the mountain slopes descend through moorland, woodland, field and farm before meeting the coast. Slieve Croob lies as a northern outlier to the main massif.

The Mournes are comparatively 'young' mountains and are composed of hard, acidic granite. They developed when a vast block of ancient shale subsided deep into the earth's crust. As it did so, molton granite welled up in stages around the sides of the descending block and filled the 'roof cavity' left in its place. Their formation complete, the granite Mournes were still concealed beneath an overlying mantle of the original shale which has almost all since gone; worn away by millions of years of rain, ice and running water.