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What to
experience while walking the Historical Trail
The Historical Trail is a wonderful
little known walking trail on the borders of counties Sligo, Leitrim and
Roscommon. Walkers pass a variety of megalithic stone age, bronze age,
iron age and early Celtic Christian sites on the way such as passage cairns,
dolmens, standing stones, crannogs, holy wells and monastic sites.
The scenery is a mix of mountains, rolling
hills, woodlands and the beautiful large island lakes of Lough Arrow and
Lough Key. On clear days distant views are spectacular. At the highest
point as much as a third of Ireland can be seen ranging from the Donegal
mountains in the north west, Mayo and Galway mountains in the south
west and on clearest days Mourne mountains in the far north east and Wicklow
mountains in the far south east.
Walking the trail is easy, mainly very
good paths away from traffic and not interfering with farms. Signposting
is good for most of the trail. Many fences are crossed by going through
self closing gates. Fences that do have styles usually have solid stone
of concrete stepping styles. Surprisingly, there is no much climbing. Walking
clubs give almost all of this Trail an "easy" grade.
Paths wander along narrow roads, ancient
green roads, woodland tracks, and mountain passes.
We divide the Trail up into 5 walking
sections, one section a day with daily walking of under 3 hours, so this
is a leisurely walking vacation, not a race or endurance course.
One section we do leave out, Boyle
to Ballinafad, because sections do pass through boggy fields and awkward
dense woodland and scenically it does not match up to the other sections.
After your walk you will be offered
optional relaxing afternoon and evening tours and activities along with
town visits so that we provide a total vacation.
Historical
Trail walking vacation packages include ...
The Walking
Route
| Part
1: |
Ballinafad to Castlebaldwin |
This is most walker's
favourite part. If weather is not clear we recommend that you leave this
part for a later clearer day. This part takes you over the Brickleive Mountains
through beautiful mountain and valley trails into some of the most spectacular
scenery you'll see on this trail. Half way, you will visit the remarkable
Carrowkeel megalithic passage cairns that you can enter into and rest.
You will also pass a donkey sanctuary where you can visit the donkeys if
you wish.
This walk is about 10 km, and will take
a good 4 to 6 hours, the longest of any section on the trail. This will
not be due to walking but due to the time you way wish to explore the passage
cairns and donkey sanctuary.
Castlebaldwin has a petrol/gasoline
station with good convenience store sit down cafe with flexible menu, some
healthy choices and budget prices. Clean toilets.
Facts: About 5.5 km road, 4 km
track; 0.5 km open ground/field.
Road generally quiet but access
to Carrowkeel Passage Tombs can get get busy on warm sunny days, and most
days from mid June to mid September. Trail markings are generally very
good in good order and frequently spaced |
| Part
2: |
Castlebaldwin to
Highwood |
| The travels through
country that is one of the most abundant source of Irish legends and the
deep rooted Irish storytelling tradition. The most famous is the Second
Battle of Moytura fought by the Tuatha De Dannan. Also there are legends
of goddesses, gods and the first Banshee is said to come from here. You
will visit the lake of Balor's Eye, Labby Rock dolmen, Lugh's Seat cairn
and the Pillars of Samhain. Lunch can be enjoyed with a rest at Cromleach
Lodge, though I also suggest you still take a pack of snacks for your journey.
Views from Cromleach Lodge and as you walk across Moytura Plateau are some
of the most breathtaking you'll find in Ireland.
This walk is also about 10 km, and takes
about 5 hours, and this includes an hour rest stop at Cromleach Lodge.
Facts: About 5 km road, 0.25
km track. 4.75 km field and woodland tracks. Roads need some care. Though
they are minor will surprise you with how much traffic they handle, even
large buses. Sometimes parts of the paths are overgrown an could take a
little working out. The climb onto the Moytura Plateau is the steepest
on the entire trail but the steep part is only a short distance. Markings
are good but some of the markers across the Moytura Plateau are often turned
to point walkers into wrong directions. We will advise you before you walk. |
| Part
3: |
Highwood to Balyfarnon |
| Onto flatter terrain
that passes interesting geological features and is a section most loved
by herbalists, botanists and bird watchers. On the higher ground I have
often seen wild goats. They are no threat and are interesting to watch.
This walk is only 7 km, and due to its
ease and less distractions can be walked comfortably in under 3 hours.
Balyfarnon is a large village with choices of pubs that serve coffees,
teas, snacks and late lunches as desired.
Facts: About 4.5 km road, 1.5
km track. 1 km path. The roads walked are very quiet, very little traffic
at any time except when you approach Balyfarnon on a fairly busy main road.
The quiet roads are very narrow, though, so attention to possible traffic
is still needed. As this is possibly the least walked part of the Trail
the track and path tends to overgrow, especially on narrow footpaths. Fortunately,
this is a well marked section of the Trail so you'll soon identify any
path route that is overgrown.
As you approach Balyfarnon you will
reach a fork pointing to the Historical Trail to the right and Miner's
Way to the left. Some enthusiasts may wish to continue along the Miner's
Way and then even onto the connecting Cavan and Ulster Ways. The Miner's
Ways is for more experienced walkers, though, as there are steep rocky
climbs and descents. There are barely any heritage sites on the Miner's
Way but it is packed with stories and legend as well as stunning views
from the steep climbs. |
| Part
4: |
Balyfarnon to Keadue |
| This is a beautiful
and very varied section. You will be immersed in the beauty of the various
trees and flora rather than admire scenery. The heritage of this section
is from the times of the Tuatha De Dannan and Celtic Christianity. There
is the beautiful St. Lazier's Holy Well where the water tastes quite sweet.
Opposite is the resting place of the blind harper composer, Turlough O'Carolan
who's first composition was dedicated the the "fairy hills" of Tuatha De
Dannan legends, Sidhe Beg and Sidhe Mor. As you walk beside Lough Meehan
you'll enjoy the beauty of the lake Crannogs and its surrounding resident
swans.
This walk is only 6 km, and is comfortably
completed in under 2.5 hours. Keadue village has won several awards for
it beauty but despite a choice of pubs it is surprisingly limited with
its range of teas, coffees, snacks and lunches. I have always though a
cafe or tearoom could do well here. An O'Carolan interpretive centre is
planned, though and that is bound to serve refreshments. While in Keadue
do visit the very interesting ancient Sweat House in the O'Carolan park.
Facts: About 2 km road, 1 km
driveway, 3 km path/field. So, more than half of this section consists
of pathways through woods, around bushes and across small fields between
the woods making a lovely relaxed walk. The road section is on a fairly
busy main road that need attention while walking it. Some of the marker
signs have long gone but the route is always clear and easy to follow. |
| Part
5: |
Keadue to Crossna |
| This section starts
along a beautiful woodland and lakeside path. Its worth making a small
diversion to visit the interesting remains of a court cairn. Eventually
this lovely winding path meets a fairly straight country road that heads
due south to the village of Crossna
This walk is 11 km but very easy. You
should be completed in well under 4 hours. However, you may wish to forgo
the straight country road towards Crossna and reduce the walk to between
6 to 8 km. The trail does take a cross country route before Crossna but
it has barely been used, the path is overgrown and the markers long gone.
Facts: About 6 km road, 1 km
track, 4 km path/field, but if you choose not to complete the Trail to
Crossna you could reduce road to 3km and field path to 2km. The road section
is very quiet. Marking are ok |
| This final section
is the longest section but full of satisfying adventure. From Crossna the
Trail goes over fields and then follows a busy main road to past Knockvicar.
I recommend that you actually start your walk from just past Knockvicar
onto a track that will gently take you through the woods to the shore of
Lough Key. Most of this walk will take you through the large Lough Key
Park that is bound to tempt you to detour to view its many historic sites
such as the mysterious Fairy Bridge, woodland Fairy Rings and stone Wishing
Chair. Lough Key Park also have a new visitor's and interpretive centre
with cafe for resting on your journey. The final leg takes a quiet road
under an enchanting period gateway before you approach Boyle from its old
main road. Before you finally reach Boyle's town centre do visit Boyle
Abbey to explore its very interesting stone carvings, many beautiful, some
humourous and some very, very clever. Perhaps your final stop may be King
House just before you enter the centre of town. Once in the centre, relax
for refreshments in the riverside Stone House Cafe.
This walk is listed as 16 km but if
you start from Knockvicar this reduces to about 12 km but with distractions
and a stop at Lough Key Park visitor's centre allow 5 to 6 hours, maybe
7 hours if we include Boyle Abbey.
Facts: About 3 km road if you
start at Knockvicar, 7 km track, 2 km path and open ground. The open ground
is the crossing of Longford Hill and there are no markers on this section,
so keep an eye on your map and compass. The path section tends to be overgrown,
but decently marked. You may find yourself leaving the track through Lough
Key Park to detour to sites. Use your map wisely and you'll soon be back
on track. This is a section to trust you map more than looking for markers. |
How long is
this Walking Vacation?
From reading the above you'll see we
suggest 6 days. If you arrive on a Sunday and depart on a Sunday you could
walk all 6 days.
Alternatively, do part of the Trail
and choose which sections you prefer to do. Some enthusiastic folks do
two sections a day. We custom to your desires. Of course weather often
rules and we can provide wonderful alternatives for hostile weather days.
Fortunately, in Ireland there are very few days when it rains all day.
Many of our visitors like to combine
walking tours with guided tours and self drive tours over a vacation period
of 5 to 15 days, with the days they spend on each being very variable.
Some visitors also like to combine walking
tours with hiring a barge or cruiser. Part of the day is spent walking,
part of the day exploring the waterways on the barge or cruiser. The barge
or cruiser becomes accommodation too
Walking Tour
Costs?
€60 one payment for pack of maps,
guide book and survival kit
and this can be shared with your
partner or family (a wonderful souvenir) plus
€75 for cell/mobile phone rental
(waived if you have a working charged phone)
€12 each per day for transport
to and from the Trail and bottled water plus
€30 to €90 per day for
accommodation with breakfast depending on quality chosen plus
€40 to €150 for travel
to and from the airport, depending on transport used
€25 per optional half day tour
after a walk
€10 or less is spent by most
people on a packed lunch or cafe break snack
€40 to €60 per optional
alternative activity on wet days
€40 to €70 per optional
quality evening meal per person including transport
€100 optional personal guide
per section, cost can be shared by group
How Can You
Book?
As you can read above, this is one type
of vacation that is difficult to provide flat rate quotes for. By sending
us an email, using the utility below, we can create an itinerary and provide
a price that fits in with your budget, your requests and your currency.
So, the first step is to fill in our
convenient email service below.
Within the "information" box please
feel free to type in your dates, interests, and any other information you
feel will be helpful.
We'll get back to you with ideas
and quotes very quickly.
Short notice requests are ok too. |
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