Clogher Valley – Carleton Trail country

📍 Tyrone

🏛️ Attraction

Last updated: 29 June 2026

Overview

Once a year the Clogher Valley Show fills a 60-acre site with one of Ireland’s biggest one-day agricultural shows – the 106th runs on Wednesday 29 July 2026 – and it tells you what this corner of County Tyrone is about: working farmland first, with the heritage and leisure threaded through it. The valley runs between the Sperrin Mountains to the north and Slieve Beagh to the south, centred on the villages of Clogher, Augher and Fivemiletown.

It’s spread out, and public transport is thin, so a car makes the difference. If you have one good walk in you, make it the Carleton Trail or the short, steep pull up to Knockmany.

Ancient roots

Clogher itself is old enough to appear on Ptolemy’s map of Ireland as ‘Regia’, a royal site, and it later served as an inauguration place for the princes of Airgíalla. The valley’s headline monument is the Knockmany Passage Grave, a Neolithic tomb dating from around 3000 BC and linked in legend to the goddess-queen Áine. Its carved stones now sit under a protective concrete chamber added in 1959; guided walks occasionally open up closer access to the interior.

Christian heritage layers on top. St Patrick’s Chair and Well in Altadaven Glen centres on a 2-metre sandstone seat – also called the Druid’s Chair – with a long-held tradition that a wish made from it comes true within days. Further along the Carleton Trail, St Macartan’s (Forth Chapel), built between 1838 and 1846, still stands on the route and the Ulster Way. And the valley keeps a transatlantic thread: the U.S. Grant Ancestral Homestead at Ballygawley preserves the cottage of the Simpson family, relatives of President Ulysses S. Grant.

Walking and outdoor adventures

  • Carleton Trail – A 30-mile waymarked route through farmland, woodland and past ancient monuments, used by both walkers and cyclists, with village refreshment stops along the way.
  • Knockmany Forest – A short walk from the passage grave; best in spring for bluebells and autumn for colour, on a generally flat path.
  • Blessingbourne Mountain Bike Trails – Purpose-built tracks near Fivemiletown with berms, tabletops and rock drops, plus a pump track, graded for all abilities.
  • Todds Leap Activity Centre – Near Ballygawley, with over 20 activities including a 500-metre zip-line, a giant swing, a free-fall drop zone, off-road driving and the Big Yella Slide. Built for groups.
  • Clogher Valley Golf Club – A 9-hole parkland course (Par 67) near Fivemiletown, with a restaurant, lounge, B&B and free parking for players.

Wildlife, nature and waterways

  • Round Lake Park – A Site of Special Scientific Interest with a lakeside promenade, an all-ability play area and an amphitheatre. Coarse fishing from the slipway, and caravan and tent pitches March to October.
  • River Blackwater – The valley’s main river, with towpaths, fishing access and gentle walking and cycling along it.

For a wider prehistoric detour, the Beaghmore Stone Circles – a Bronze Age complex of cairns and standing stones – lie a short drive northwest.

A spa stop

If the weather closes in, Corick House Hotel & Spa, set in a Georgian mansion, is the indoor fallback: it has Northern Ireland’s first Vichy shower, a hydrotherapy massage pool, steam room, sauna and heated loungers. It’s also the most reliable place to eat well in the valley.

Practical information

Getting there

The valley is reached on the A5 and A4 from Belfast or Derry. Omagh (about 30 km) and Dungannon (about 25 km) make handy base towns. Clogher is served by Ulsterbus to Omagh and the 261/X261 between Belfast and Enniskillen, but services are limited; the narrow-gauge Clogher Valley Railway closed in 1942 and was never replaced. Free parking is available at Round Lake Park, Corick House and the main trailheads.

Visiting tips

  • Carry a printed map or offline GPS for the Carleton Trail; mobile signal is patchy in the hills.
  • Pack layers and waterproof footwear – weather turns fast in Tyrone.
  • Check seasonal opening times for the heritage sites and activity centres before you set out.

Time a summer visit around the Clogher Valley Show on the last Wednesday in July, allow extra for the Knockmany climb, and leave room to follow the Blackwater wherever it leads.