Davagh Forest Dark Skies Extended Loop
County Tyrone
Davagh Forest sits high on the Sperrin moors and shares its car park with the OM Observatory and Dark Sky Park, the only International Dark Sky Park on the island of Ireland. The extended forest loop strings together the Beaghmore Stone Circles access paths and the upper Davagh mountain bike network's walker cut through, rolling between spruce plantation, heather clearings and panoramic viewpoints. It is a firmly dog friendly route, on lead, and dusk walks are a rare treat under some of the darkest skies in Europe.
Dogs need to stay on a lead throughout because of shared mountain bike trails, scattered moorland sheep and the sensitive monument corridors at Beaghmore. Surfaces are compacted forest road, gravel bike track and short moorland grass, sturdy trainers or light boots fine in dry weather. Parking is free at the OM car park with toilets, an exhibition and a small cafe; the stone circles site a short drive north has its own free layby parking.
At a Glance
- Distance
- 9.0 km (5.6 miles)
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Duration
- 3 hr
- Walk Type
- Forest, Moorland, Historic
- Route Type
- Circular
- Off Lead Potential
- None
- Livestock Risk
- Moderate
- Facilities
- Toilets, exhibition and small cafe at the OM Observatory car park.
- Parking
- Free car park at the OM Observatory, around 80 spaces, fills on dark sky evenings.
Dog Friendly Stays Nearby
Make a weekend of it. These are the closest dog friendly places to stay to Davagh Forest Dark Skies Extended Loop, each one checked for its dog policy before we listed it.
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What’s Nearby?
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