Loop: Sculpture Park Loop Walk
Trailhead: Birdhide Carpark, Lough Boora Parklands, Offaly
Services: Kilcormac (6km)
Distance: 3km
Time: 45 mins - 1 hr
Difficulty: Easy
Terrain: Mix of bog roads and sandy tracks
To Suit: All levels of fitness (also shorter wheelchair option)
Minimum Gear: Sturdy walking boots, waterproofs. Rucksack, fluid, snacks and mobile phone.
The Lough Boora Parklands is a beautiful new landscape hidden at the centre of Ireland - a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts, which until now has been an unshared secret. Over recent years large tracts of bog have been cutaway (an area of bogland that has come out of production once all commercial peat has been removed). But what was to be done with these vast expanses of land? In 1994 the Lough Boora Parklands Group produced an integrated plan for the Boora cutaways - embracing environmental and socio-economic concerns. And so, through a creative combination of nature and human hand new habitats are emerging on the cutaway bogs of Co. Offaly. Lands cloaked with great raised bogs for 10,000 years, which were harvested for energy since the 1940’s, are today establishing a unique and welcoming habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna.
From the town of Kilcormac (on the N52 between Tullamore and Birr), take the N52 following the signposts for Tullamore. As you leave the town turn left after crossing the bridge over the Silver River. Follow the riverside roadway for 300m to reach a t-junction where you turn right. After 6km the trailhead is on your left opposite a wooden birdhide. Note: the trailhead is signposted from Kilcormac.
A-B. Start from the carpark opposite the birdhide on the Cycle Path Road. The trailhead is marked by a mapboard. Cross the wooden footbridge and follow the sandy path for 200m to cross over the embankment and descend to the ‘standing timbers’ sculpture.
B-C. Take the narrow sandy track which veers to the right around the back of the large stone Boora Pyramid.
C-D. From the pyramid continue along the sandy track through bogland and past a series of unusual sculptures created by artists in this unique landscape of cutaway bog. The end of this section is marked by a metal footbridge over Crooked Brook.
D-E. After the footbridge, the sandy pathway swings right and follows Crooked Brook for 200m – an old turf (peat) train is permanently parked high on an embankment on your left. Turn left, climb the embankment past the front of the train, and turn left onto the sandy path keeping the lake on your right.
E-A. After 200m you exit at a small car parking area onto Cycle Path Road. Turn right here – the trailhead is on 200m away.
Sculpture Park Loop Downloadable Map
Head Office, Shannon Town Centre,
Shannon, Co Clare: t: +353 (0)61 361555 f: +353 (0)61 361903