The walk
Ballintempo is one block of the largest continuous forest in Northern Ireland. Stitch it together with its neighbours – Carrigan, Big Dog, Conagher and Lough Navar – and you have over 8,500 hectares of conifer, open bog and wooded gully running from Lough MacNean across to the Magho cliffs above Lough Erne. The Aghanaglack Walk is the one waymarked route through it, and the Aghanaglack Dual Court Tomb, not the forestry, is the reason to walk it. If you only want the highlight, the tomb sits part-way round the loop and the signed detour to it adds about twenty minutes.
How long is the loop? The sources don’t agree. The official tourism listing and Fermanagh Lakelands call it 7 miles (11 km); WalkNI measures it at 7.8 miles; Activeme.ie says 12 km. Whichever you trust, allow three to four hours. It’s graded moderate, mostly level along forest tracks with few gradients, on a surface that swings between compacted track and soft, wet peat. Waterproof boots, not trainers – the bog sections stay damp through the year.
One honest warning: the signposting is hit and miss. WalkNI’s own reviews split sharply, from ‘well signposted, nice views’ to one walker who ‘got lost for hours’. Carry the OS map (Sheet 17) and don’t rely on the posts alone, especially where the track forks out on the open bog and the mobile signal drops away.
If walking isn’t the plan, the forest is also used for mountain biking and orienteering – it’s a working forest of tracks rather than a single trail, so there’s room to roam.
The tomb and Brimstone Rock
The Aghanaglack Dual Court Tomb is the find here, a rare Neolithic monument dating to roughly 4,000–2,000 BC with two small courtyards flanking a central stone gallery. It was originally roofed with large stone slabs and then covered over with stones and earth; what survives is the bare stone skeleton, now in the care of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. It stands on high ground among the conifers, and it was built when far fewer trees stood here, on a site chosen to command the country around it.
Brimstone Rock is the other landmark, a big sandstone outcrop that gives the trail its main viewpoint, looking across the bog to the stepped plateau of Cuilcagh Mountain – at 665m the highest point in Fermanagh and Cavan. The name is a small mystery: there’s no brimstone, no sulphur exposure, anywhere near it, and nobody seems to know where the word came from. The Ulster Way long-distance trail passes through the forest and links up with the Aghanaglack loop, so through-hikers can pick it up as a side excursion.
Bog and wildlife
The blanket bog that covers the central plateau began forming around 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, as cool, wet conditions slowed the decay of sphagnum moss into peat. For generations local people cut turf from bogs like this for the fire. The land tells its geology plainly too – glacial deposits and weathered sandstone, explained on the interpretive panels near the tomb and Brimstone Rock.
For wildlife, keep an eye on the sky over the open bog: merlin and hen harrier, two of Ireland’s scarcer upland birds of prey, are the ones worth watching for, most likely on a light-wind morning. Early and late in the day are quietest.
Getting there
From Enniskillen, follow the A46 shore road to Belleek, fork left onto the B81 Derrygonnelly road, and take the first turn signed for Boho. Carry on up through Boho and turn left at the crossroads following signs for Belcoo; after about 6km, turn right at the sign for Aghanaglack Court Tomb and follow the road to the forestry car park (postcode BT74 5DA). Coming from Belcoo, it’s roughly 8km via the Aughrim and Gaedrum roads, again following the signs for the chambered cairn.
Before you go
- Distance and time: 7 to 7.8 miles depending on the source; allow 3 to 4 hours.
- Terrain: Forest track and soft bog with a few rocky steps near the crags. Waterproof footwear year-round.
- Parking: Small car park at the Aghanaglack entrance on Boho Road. Entry to the forest is free, though a modest car-park fee may apply.
- Access: Not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. Dogs welcome but keep them under control near grazing land.
- Navigation: Bring OS Sheet 17; the waymarking can’t be relied on and signal is patchy on the high bog. Forestry work occasionally closes short sections, with diversions signed in advance.
Time it for May to September for the firmest footing and longest light, and start early – not for the crowds, which barely exist, but for the calm air that brings the raptors out over the bog.