Mullaghmeen Forest Trails
Mullaghmeen in north Westmeath is the largest planted beech forest in Ireland. This 1,000 acre broadleaved forest has an extensive network of way marked trails for varying levels of fitness, including three looped walks and a multi access trail. Facilities include a car park and picnic areas.
This 1,000 acre forest offers picnickers a shady haven in which to feast and provides the more energetic with scenic walks of varying length. The Red Trail takes you to the summit of Mullaghmeen and provides magnificent views north across Lough Sheelin and into the neighbouring county of Cavan. The forest, once an out farm belonging to a Lord Gradwell, has many examples of man’s former impacts on the landscape.
Following the White Trail (one of the walking trails) one passes sad reminders of famine times with relic walls of famine fields. A Booley Hut, a summer grazing shelter, is just off the Red Trail, while the Flax Pits show that this important crop for the linen industry was once harvested and cured in this area.