Mullaghmeen – Ireland's biggest beech forest

Overview

Mullaghmeen is the lowest county high point in Ireland: at 258 m (846 ft) you can drive most of the way up and walk the rest in trainers. What makes it worth the trip is the wood wrapped around it – the largest planted beech forest in Ireland, a 400-hectare (roughly 1,000-acre) Coillte estate on the northern edge of County Westmeath. Coillte and Wikipedia go further and call it the biggest planted beech forest in Europe, though not every source repeats that. Beech dominates the canopy, but there is also Sitka spruce, Scots pine, noble fir and a collection of native trees, so the place reads as much as an arboretum as a hill walk.

History and landscape

The land was once an out-farm belonging to a Lord Gradwell. In 1936 the Department of Agriculture took it on and began planting the limestone soil with beech and other broadleaves, and over the decades it grew into the mixed woodland you walk today.

The ground still carries the marks of harder times. Along the trails you pass the relic walls of famine-era fields, a restored famine garden laid out to show 19th-century subsistence farming, and the remains of flax pits that once fed the local linen trade. Just off the Red Trail sits a reconstructed Booley Hut – a stone-and-turf shelter of the kind herders used when livestock were driven to higher ground for the summer. It is a plain, tangible link to centuries of Irish farming.

Walking the trails

The loops are colour-coded and well signposted. Distances below are as waymarked at the trailhead:

If you only do one, make it the Red Loop: it climbs steadily to the top, where the beech thins and you get a clear line north across Lough Sheelin into County Cavan. Be warned that the ‘summit’ is a modest thing – the forest, not the view, is the real draw, and for most of the climb the canopy keeps the horizon hidden until the last stretch. For history and quieter ground, link the Blue and White loops, which take in most of the old field walls and native woodland.

Seasonal highlights

• Spring (March–May) – bluebells carpet the floor, best along the Yellow and Red trails.
• Summer (June–August) – long days make the full White Loop comfortable, and the clearings are good for a picnic.
• Autumn (September–November) – the beech turns gold and copper; trails get damp, so bring waterproof boots.
• Winter – the forest stays open; the sheltered Pink trail is the quick option, and clear days give the crispest views from the top.

Getting there and facilities

There is a free car park at the forest entrance with room for cars and small coaches, and a picnic area near the trailheads. Facilities are basic, though: no visitor centre, and no toilets to count on, so plan accordingly. In summer a coffee van sometimes sets up at weekends, but don’t rely on it. Dogs are welcome under close control, particularly near the livestock gates.

The Pink Multi-Access trail is flat and firm, fine for wheelchairs and pushchairs; every other loop is a natural forest track with roots, stones and mud, so wear proper shoes.

By car:

• From Oldcastle: R154 west for 1.8 km, onto the L6813 for 6.3 km, then right after 300 m to the entrance.
• From Castlepollard: north on Water Street, past the schools, following the signposted rural route to the gate.

Car-park coordinates are 53.74695, -7.27186. Signal can drop in the deeper woodland, so download the trail map (PDF) before you arrive. To report a trail issue, contact Coillte on 1890 367 378 or email tony.quinn@coillte.ie.

Nearby

• Belvedere House Estate and Jealous Wall – an 18th-century house with formal gardens and a neoclassical folly.
• Fore – Abbey and Seven Wonders – a medieval monastic site ringed by old lore and standing stones.
• Hill of Uisneach – the mythic ‘centre of Ireland’, with burial mounds and a cross on a limestone ridge.

Aim for a morning start to have the forest to yourself before the weekend walkers arrive.