Overview
The thing to see at Belmore Forest is Pollnagollum, a karst shaft where a stream drops 12 metres over a limestone cliff and then disappears, running underground for about 1.8 km before resurfacing along the north bank of the Aghanaglack River. The forest spreads over Belmore Mountain, which at roughly 398 m is the second highest point in County Fermanagh after Cuilcagh, and the whole area is included in the UNESCO Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark (also called the Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark). The limestone beneath your feet is riddled with caves that pull in potholers from far and wide.
If you only have an hour, walk the loop to the cave viewing platform and turn back. The cairn on the ridge is worth the detour if you have longer, but Pollnagollum is the headline.
The forest walk
The Pollnagollum Cave Walk is a 7 km anti-clockwise loop, graded easy, taking about two hours on forest track and surfaced footpath. It starts at the car park off the Boho Road, climbs gently through conifer and broadleaf, and passes the disused Coolarkan Quarry, where the cut limestone faces show the karst processes that shaped the region.
Where the trees open, the view runs across Lower Lough Erne, Lough Navar and over to Brougher Mountain with its television masts. From the higher ground you can pick out Cuilcagh and, to the south-west, Lower Lough MacNean. Sturdy footwear earns its keep here: the stone slabs and tracks turn slippery after rain.
Pollnagollum Cave
A viewing platform overlooks the shaft. This is not a cave you go into; it is a dramatic surface opening into an underground river system, and the falls are at their loudest after a few days of rain. The name comes from Poll na nGollum, ‘hole of the goblins’ or ‘of the chasms’ – not to be confused with the mountain itself, Sliabh Bhéal Mór, ‘big mouth mountain’.
The cave entrance featured in the first season of Game of Thrones as the Hollow Hill, the hideout of the Brotherhood Without Banners. That brought the crowds, but the geology is the real draw.
Eagle’s Knoll Cairn
A short detour from the loop leads to Eagle’s Knoll Cairn, a Neolithic passage tomb dating to roughly 3500–3000 BC and excavated by the antiquarian Thomas Plunkett in 1894. Plunkett dug a second monument on the mountain the same year, the Moylehid ring cairn, so the ridge has more prehistory on it than the cave alone suggests.
Guided tours of the mountain’s antiquities run occasionally through the Geopark, and they are the best way to understand how the tomb fits the wider prehistoric landscape. They are not a fixed weekly fixture, so check ahead rather than turning up expecting one.
Practical information
There are no toilets on the mountain, so sort that before you set off. Picnic tables near the trailhead make a decent lunch spot. Dogs are welcome on a lead. Spring and early autumn give the most comfortable walking and the best light; in winter the waterfall can thin to a trickle and ice forms on the quarry faces.
The forest is managed by Forest Service NI, and access is occasionally restricted for forestry works, so it is worth checking the listing before a long drive.
Getting there
By car: From Enniskillen, take the A46 west toward Belleek, turn onto the B81 toward Derrygonnelly, then follow signs for Boho. The turn for the forest is off the Boho Road, with the car park at the end of a narrow forestry lane (BT74 5BF), about half a mile west of Boho Community Centre.
Public transport: The nearest Translink stop is in Boho (service 245), then a walk along the Boho–Belmore road. Services are infrequent, so check timetables first.
Parking: Free at the trailhead, but limited and reached by a single narrow lane, so arrive early on fine weekends. There are no dedicated disabled spaces, and the walk itself is not suitable for wheelchairs.