Travel Reports

Alan McMonagle, from Galway, writes about his 4-day adventure along the Kingfisher Cycle Trail...

Day One: Carrick-on-Shannon to Belcoo (36 miles)

Fionnuala and I have come over to the river town of Carrick-on-Shannon in south Leitrim, arriving at our guest house the night before. Our plan is to cover just over 100 miles of the 230 mile Kingfisher Trail over the next four days.

Leaving our guest house, the road north is quiet with a friendly gradient that lends itself to middle chain cycling. At minor junctions, unintrusive brown signs point the way. Yellow furze lines either roadside and sunlight is trying to break through. In the trees, birds encourage us along with a medley of hoot, peep and chirp. We breathe in early summer scents of sycamores and pines and of freshly cut hay in the fields beyond. There’s vitality in the air and the infectious ambience soon works its magic over us.

We pass through Leitrim village and turn right onto the narrow road skirting the canal at Battlebridge. It is flat, tranquil and leafy along a stretch of water that invites closer scrutiny. Tiny birds dart over the water and disappear again. Larger varieties hoot and caw. With a bit of luck and patience you might even spot a kingfisher, always recognisable by its colourful plumage.

The canal twists its way towards the southern tip of Lough Allen and we come out onto a main road this side of the lakeside town of Drumshambo. Just outside Drumshambo, we follow the sign for Lough Allen, stretching away to our left. We’re now in Drumlin country, a series of close-packed ridges stretching across south Leitrim. Gear work dramatically increases as the terrain starts to undulate. A couple of thigh busting climbs and hairy descents become the order as Lough Allen falls further away to the left and several 500 metre peaks rise through the woodlands on our right. This is a quiet country track so, if you’re up for it, you can cut loose from the top of each climb. The surface is rough and stony in parts so you might prefer to coax yourself down, taking in views of the lake and the woodlands.

The Drumlins provide a stretch of exhilarating cycling. And everywhere you turn there is water. Lakes, rivers, canals, streams. And when you can’t see it, you can hear it - gushing through the land and gurgling over rocks.

We’re doing 36 miles today and at the half way mark, we pass the location of one of numerous old Sweat Houses (Teach Alluis) in the parish, stone buildings used long ago for medicinal purposes. There’s also a picnic area, a good place for a short breather after the pedal work over the hills.

Shortly after the Sweat House, we pass the Lough Allen Outdoor Pursuits Centre before we leave the main road again for a loop that curls past the farthest reaches of Lough Allen and then twists back into the farm village of Dowra on the Leitrim-Cavan border. ‘The Melrose’ is worth a break if just for the infectious banter and sprinklings of local humour.

Out of Dowra we enter County Cavan. The trail winds through lake-studded woodland, the hilly Cavan Burren gradually taking shape ahead of us.

A sheepdog guards the crossroads as we head for Moneycashel. There’s a sign for the Shannon Pot as well. We’re into the final third of day one and it’s a gradual climb into the Burren. The woodland gives way to tussock grasses and heathland and dark brown bracken. It’s a tough climb through exposed boulder strewn ridges. We’re finally at the top and rewarded with sweeping views of the surrounding Burren and, in the distance below us, the luscious teal of Lough McNean. There is a light breeze, the cloud descends over mountaintops, the hills are lush with forest and the rain is somehow holding off.

‘Are you ready?’ I say to Fionnuala. She tips her helmet to me and we push off. The gradient is firmly in our favour now and we coast for the remaining couple of miles into the border village of Blacklion, eventually emerging through a narrow road between two village dwellings. We cross the bridge spanning the narrow channel separating Upper and Lower McNean and roll up outside the lake-facing Customs House Country Inn in Belcoo village, just inside Co. Fermanagh.

It’s half past five and we’ve been out on the road for six hours. Our luggage has arrived and there’s a bath in the room. It’s time to get the suds going.

Day Two: Belcoo to Belleek (23 miles)

Before setting out, we make time to enquire about a trip to the nearby Marble Arch caves. Our taxi took us there via the scenic route, up and around another of the area’s standout features – the Hanging Rock. From these heights, the lakes look stunning amidst their cloak of conifer forest. En route to the caves, there are numerous attractions to consider visiting – Marlbank Nature Reserve, Cuilcagh Mountain Park and Florence Court Gardens.

A cave tour usually combines a walking-boat trip but heavy rainfall will veto the boat excursion. However, the enthusiastic and informative guides will take you on an hour-long exploration of this world of mystery and darkness, explaining the formation of the myriad features of these extensive chambers. It’s an engrossing hour, worth it alone for the amusing names used to identify various manganese stalagmites and crystal columns.

We’re on the bikes again, climbing away from Belcoo and Hanging Rock and the Cavan Burren we came over yesterday. It’s another quiet country road and the day is clearing nicely. There is heat in the breaking-through sun and a light breeze refreshes. The birds are in full chorus. Ballintempo Forest begins on our right and below, on our left, we travel parallel with Lough McNean Upper.

The trail descends and levels out, crosses a main road and continues towards the village of Kiltyclogher. We weave in and out of Leitrim and Fermanagh at a leisurely pace, passing along daisy-buttercup fields, warming day drawing out the early summer fragrance of furze. The easy cycling is a treat after the climbs and dips the day before.

We roll into the village of Garrison, situated on the southern shores of Lough Melvin. A further two miles around the lakeshore takes you to the Rossinver Organic Centre, another part of the Greenbox Project, a slight detour but worth it for an excellent introduction to the practice of organic gardening. There’s also a café where you can try out the produce and replenish energy levels.

It’s leafy sheltered cycling on the flat for the next few miles. Along side us, Lough Melvin flickers through the roadside shrub. Shards of sunlight leak through gaps in the trees and glisten off the lake waters. If you’re lucky you might spot a salmon spring out of the water. The lake ends and we come to a t-junction and turn right onto yet another quiet country road where kaleidoscopes of white and orange butterflies flutter across our path.

It’s a gentle ride into Belleek village and we’re excited at the Carlton Hotel when we spot the Jacuzzi in our bathroom. Legs muscles receive a thorough kneading.

Day Three: Belleek-Rossnowlagh-Belleek (22 Miles)

We’re doing a twenty two mile loop today, heading to the coastal cliffs of Rossnowlagh in County Donegal via the hilly-street town of Ballyshannon, and returning to our base in Belleek via Cavangarden village. The trail leaves Belleek by the police barracks and quickly becomes a quiet forest road that eventually bisects Lake Assaroe. Either side, there is water and you feel as though you’re cycling along a causeway, or through another ‘Moses Path,’ to borrow a phrase used to describe a section of the caves yesterday. Some swans are nesting on the lake islands. Others take flight towards the coniferous lake boundaries and skim the surface water as they land again. One or two houses jut right out into the water and we wave enviously at owners sitting out enjoying their day.

Hilly Ballyshannon comes and goes and an ocean view loop brings us as far as Rossnowlagh. We book a late afternoon lunch in the cliff top Smugglers Creek and coast down onto Beallann Strand, a long stretch of compact sand ideal for beach cycling. It’s a calm day and the sea air invigorates us as we work up an appetite pedalling the beach.

After a late ocean-view lunch and map consultation, we’re cycling inland again. We cross the main road where there are one or two turns to watch for. The coastal grasslands soon deteriorate. The gradient starts to rise gently and then suddenly as a lung-bursting climb takes us over a tussock-grass peat ridge. We rest up at the top by Lough Colmcille, a bog lake, perched right at the hill summit, set into the surrounding heath and furze with an arching turret of spruce spanning the far side of the lake. It makes for a tranquil late evening breather and its calm water mirrors the surrounding landscape.

Then the peat bog land and tussock grasses become a fast descent through lush green woodland. Distant hills and mountains reach into the clear sky. It’s late evening now and there isn’t a stir in the air. We’re racking up the miles and the knees can feel it but the scenery and its calming atmosphere spur us on.

It’s late when we return to Belleek. The Jacuzzi jets are revved to full throttle.

Day Four: Belleek to Pettigoe

After a quick tour of the Belleek Visitors Centre, we’re soon putting distance between ourselves and this famous pottery village. A short stretch of main road takes us towards Keenaghan Lough, a noted site for rainbow trout. However, we’re on the look-out for Caldwell Forest on the western shoreline of Lower Lough Erne - 200 hectares of coniferous woodland, broadleaves and natural scrubland.

The lake waters of Lough Erne are soon visible. They provide homes to a wide range of plants and animals – pine martens, common scoters, red deer, pheasants and curlews.

A map board in the forest parking area indicates three walking trails. The castle trail leads down to the lakeshore via the remains of Caldwell Castle – the years have not been kind! A flotilla of bluebells casts a lilac sheen over the shaded forest scrub. The fragrance is intoxicating. Slats of sunlight further light up the forest floor, a collage of daisies, buttercups and bluebells scattered amidst tall columns of green leaf trees. All around us the forest caws and shrieks with life.

Time permitting, it’s worth exploring the forest in detail.

Soon we leave the forest lakeshores of Lough Erne behind. We’re headed for the Fermanagh-Donegal bogs, and the lush countryside becomes an immense sweep of tussock grasses, yellow furze and dark brown heath. The gradient increases. Bog lakes appear. The wind picks up and cloud moves quickly and, in places, surrounds and conceals distant hilltops. Suddenly we realise how exposed this stretch actually is. It is bleak, barren, remote country. It is wild and beautiful. And silent, except for the keening sound of the incessant wind. There are more lakes than dwellings and we pause at a junction where the wind appears to have turned the sign. We guess left and follow the course of a rough narrow track over a trickle-stream bridge. A farmhouse appears in front of us and the owner is hacking at a dogged piece of bush.

‘Which way to Pettigoe?’ Fionnuala calls to him.

‘Not that way, anyway,’ he replies.

‘The sign points this way.’

‘Aaahh, don’t mind the sign,’ he says and he rights us again.

You get the feeling this is land that time has forgotten and that the elements-resistant folk who inhabit these parts are content to have it that way. We pass another cottage just as a tattered old lady emerges and wobbles across the road to examine a furze bush. What essentials does it possess for her we wonder?

We’re near the end now, and as though suddenly whisked in, a black and white kilometre sign appears pointing the way to Pettigoe. It’s not far.

We’ve covered over one hundred miles in the past four days. We’ve pedalled along peaceful canals and ground our way up lakeside hills; we tasted the ocean and rested by mucky bog pools; we’ve basked along sunlit forest roads and gritted through windswept heath. In places the roads are so quiet you forget what a car sounds like. From time to time the rain has come down, a small price to pay surely when you consider the contrasts and beauty in the landscape towards which this rain contributes.

The Kingfisher Trail has lived up to its billing – it’s colourful and varied; exhilarating and relaxing; and with a succession of interesting detours and entertaining stopovers it amounts to so much more than a fantastic cycling experience.

   

If you've cycled the Kingfisher Trail, we'd love to hear from you! Use our contact form, or contact <pat@kingfishercycletrail.com>.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

About the Trail

First conceived in 1995, the Kingfisher Trail is the first long-distance cycle trail of its kind in Ireland and its cross-border loop takes in counties Fermanagh, Leitrim, Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan.

The trail has been designed with low-impact, friendly-to-the-environment tourism in mind, and indeed, is just part of a larger eco-tourism vision for these parts.

Operating from their offices in Manorhamilton Castle, in north Leitrim, The Greenbox Project is Ireland’s first integrated eco-tourism destination. Among its aims are to add value to local communities and existing tourism enterprises and motivate others to invest.

The concept is actually much broader than the established definition of tourism, embracing activities such as organic food production, rural transport, energy and waste management.

The Greenbox also runs two walking festivals each year, in Spring and Autumn and the ‘spirit’ of the Greenbox Project can be seen in the Green Festival that takes place in September.