Hazelwood Forest – Lough Gill lakeside loop

Overview

The whole loop is flat. That is the first thing to know about Hazelwood, and the reason it draws families and wheelchair users when steeper Sligo walks rule them out. The 3.2 km circuit hugs the north-western shore of Lough Gill, five kilometres east of Sligo town, running through mature oak and ash with the lake’s island chain in view most of the way. Coillte manages the 250-year-old demesne as a free amenity. There are no opening hours and no charge.

History

The estate centres on Hazelwood House, a Palladian mansion built in 1724 for Lieutenant-General Owen Wynne and designed by Richard Cassels, the architect behind Leinster House and Powerscourt. It is a significant Georgian residence and stays closed to the public, so don’t come expecting to get inside. The Wynne family held the place for three centuries. The woods themselves go back to the 1650s, a mix of alluvial and broadleaf, and they fed into W. B. Yeats’s ‘The Song of Wandering Aengus’, which opens in the hazel wood.

Conservation

Hazelwood holds one of the few surviving stretches of alluvial woodland in Ireland, 123 hectares of it, listed as EU-protected Annex 1 habitat and part of the Lough Gill Special Area of Conservation. Between 2020 and 2024 Coillte’s ‘Restoring Hazelwood’ project pulled out invasive rhododendron, laurel and dogwood, thinned non-native conifers, and replanted willow, alder, ash and birch. The work won the Native Woodland Conservation Award at the 2025 RDS Forest and Woodland Awards, and ran in partnership with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the local community under Coillte’s Forests for Nature initiative.

Wildlife

The wet-woodland flora carries the place. Marsh marigold, wood anemone, bluebells, meadowsweet and flag iris cover the ground beneath willow, alder, ash, birch and aspen. Kingfishers work the lake edge alongside willow and reed warblers, mute swans, mallard and greylag goose. Red squirrels and otters are resident, with the odd deer; common frogs and newts breed in the wet ground. Come early for the best chance of a kingfisher or an otter.

Storm Eowyn and reopening

Storm Eowyn in January 2025 brought down veteran trees and tore up paths across the forest. Crews cleared fallen timber, refilled root plates and repaired the access road over six weeks, and the forest reopened on 5 April 2025. Coillte asks visitors to keep to the marked trails while restoration continues, and to stay clear of the nearby Carns Hill area.

Walking the loop

The main trail follows green arrows and takes about an hour. It is genuinely flat, no ascent, and holds up for buggies and wheelchairs. Two spurs near the midway point cut the walk to 1.5 km or 2 km if you’re short on time. The shore-side picnic bench is the spot for photos, looking west to Church Island, Goat Island, Cottage Island and Dooney Rock, with Wolf Island and Bernard’s Island showing on a clear day.

Of the original wooden sculpture trail only a few installations survive, tied to the wider Yeats Trail. Interpretive panels name the tree species and tell the estate’s ecological and family history.

Seasonal notes

• Spring brings bluebells and wood anemone across the floor; this is when the photographers turn up.
• Summer gives long evenings for birdwatching along the water.
• Autumn turns the broadleaf section amber, mirrored in the lake.
• Winter is quiet and good for otters and squirrels, though the paths get muddy after rain.

Getting there

The entrance is at Half Moon Bay car park, off the N4 just east of Sligo town, with free parking. It is about ten minutes by car from the town centre. There is no direct bus; the nearest stop is in Sligo town, leaving a short taxi ride or a 5 km walk to the gate. Bike racks sit at the car-park entrance, and the cycle route from town follows the R292. Hazelwood usually features in the county’s free Bike Week 2026 events with guided rides.

Practical information

Nearby attractions

• Benbulben – the flat-topped mountain above Yeats’s grave, with cliff-side walks.
• Ballygilgan Nature Reserve – grassland and shore good for wintering geese.
• Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery – one of Ireland’s largest groups of prehistoric tombs.
• Cloonacool – a village at the foot of the Ox Mountains.

If you only have an hour in Sligo and want flat ground with a lake at your shoulder, this is the walk to pick.