It is set in the Avondale Forest Park, spanning over 2 km2 (500 acres) of land, approximately 1.5 km from the nearby town of Rathdrum.

Avondale House was built in 1777 for Samuel Hayes, a barrister who wrote a book on Irish Forestry and was a pioneer of the re-afforestation of Ireland, planting many thousands of trees on the estate.

[1] He died childless in 1795 leaving the estate to his cousin Sir John Parnell, 2nd Baronet, with the condition that it pass to a younger son.

The house was used as a forestry school and the grounds planted with a great variety of trees, the most successful being conifers from the Pacific coast of North America.

Other facilities in the grounds of the Beyond the Trees Avondale visitor attraction include a Treetop Walk & Viewing Tower, gift shop, picnic areas, walled garden, children's playground.