Roughly halfway between Portrush and Bushmills — about 3 miles from each — Magheracross is a purpose-built viewing platform on the Dunluce Road, opened in 2021. It’s a genuinely worthwhile two-minute stop rather than a destination in itself: two cantilevered platforms looking out over the North Atlantic and the sandy shores below, with Dunluce Castle visible along the coast in one direction.
Visiting
The viewpoint is free, open from 7am to 11pm (no overnight stays), and needs no more than a few minutes out of your journey between Portrush and the Causeway.
The northern lights
What makes Magheracross worth a special mention: it’s one of the better spots on this coast for seeing the aurora borealis when conditions align. The elevated position and open sea views to the north give a genuinely clear line of sight, and it’s been used successfully before — a G2-level aurora display was captured here on the night of 17 September 2021. Seeing the northern lights from Northern Ireland is never guaranteed and depends entirely on solar activity — check a real aurora forecast rather than just hoping — but if conditions are right, this is a better bet than most spots on the coast, thanks to the dark, open horizon over the water.
Getting there: on the Dunluce Road (A2) between Portrush and Bushmills — easy to build into a day that also takes in Dunluce Castle or Whiterocks Beach.