Sligo and Leitrim · Easy · Circular

Benbulben forest loop from Gortarowey

An easy forest loop from Gortarowey at the foot of Benbulben, under the mountain's limestone cliffs and back with views over Sligo Bay.

Distance
5.6 km (3.5 mi)
Ascent
78 m
Time
About 1 h 30 min
High point
181 m
Grade
Easy

Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), checked by Global Adventurer.

0 km2 km4 km181 m99 m
Move along the height chart to see each point on the map.
Benbulben forest loop from Gortarowey
Jonny Lavery · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The walk

From the Gortarowey car park, follow the waymarked gravel path gently uphill to the north-east, through woodland, with the limestone cliffs of Benbulben rising on your right. Go round the eastern end of the loop under the mountain, then follow the forest road west along the northern edge of the plantation, looking out over Sligo Bay to Inishmurray and Mullaghmore. At the western end a newer path winds down through native woodland, past the ruins of a cashel (an early stone ringfort), to the car park. The loop goes anticlockwise.

It is 5.6 km round with 78 m of ascent; allow about 1½ hours. The grade is Easy: gravel paths and forest roads on gentle slopes.

The loop is in Coillte forest, and Coillte and Sligo County Council look after the trail. Tree felling can bring temporary diversions: follow any signs, and check Coillte's updates before you go. Sheep graze the fields below the mountain all year, so keep dogs on a lead.

The large car park at Gortarowey is free, with a picnic area. TFI Local Link route 982 from Sligo to Drumcliffe, Grange and Mullaghmore, about nine buses a day, passes the turn off the N15 at Barnaribbon, a few kilometres' uphill walk by a narrow road from the car park.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.

Good to know

  • Benbulben is a flat-topped limestone mountain in the Dartry range, carved by the ice into its ship's-prow profile.
  • Its limestone holds fossils of corals and shellfish from a tropical sea, and rare arctic-alpine plants cling to its cliffs.
  • W. B. Yeats is buried at Drumcliffe churchyard a few kilometres away, 'under bare Ben Bulben's head'.
  • Sheep from the farms below graze high up the steep slopes, and the loop passes the ruin of an early stone ringfort (cashel).

Getting there

Start: Gortarowey car park · Free parking. 54.36275, -8.50174

Directions to the start

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Places to stay nearby

Rooms in and around Sligo Mac Diarmada: Booking.com → Expedia → Hotels.com →

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Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line and figures come from OpenStreetMap and our own checks; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.