Overview:

Distance: 2km round trip
Elevation gain: 100m
Format: Out and back
Time: 30 - 90 mins
Start / End / Parking:
There is minimal parking at the base of the hill, room for only 1 or 2 cars.
Trail difficulty: Easy
There is a well built gravel trail from the base to the summit featuring a lot of steps. Across the summit to the cairn, there is a well worn grassy path that is lumpy due to the rocky nature of the land. While the terrain is all approachable, the initial climb up onto the summit plateau is very steep.
Read about trail grading in Ireland here.
Trail quality: 5/5
This is well built and well maintained.
Views: 5/5
For a tiny, local trail, this is a really lovely walk. You have views out over the Ox Mountains, Knocknarea, and the Dartry Mountains of Benbulben and others. I particularly like this kind of a walk at sunrise or sunset.
Buggy/Wheelchair friendly: No
Dogs allowed: No - this route crosses farmland with livestock.
When did I walk this route: February 2026
External resources:
- SligoWalks.ie
- Here’s this hill on HiiKER

Knocknashee is a small hill in the middle of Sligo and the eastern edge of the Ox Mountains. This local walk highlights the great places you can find in your own back yard.

Well over a year ago, I was searching for something on google maps and I came across the pin for the start of this walk. I quite litterly saved it to my “to visit” list, and ever since then this green little flag has been waving at me from just up the road. I felt like I was saving this walk for something - what exactly, I couldn’t tell you. But last week, as the rain beat down and I listened to more reports of the wettest January on record, I decided that I was going to walk this trail the next dry afternoon I got.

That day turned out to be Wednesday the 4th of February. After a day of meetings and messages in Sligo, I hit the back roads and wound my way towards the Ox Mountains. The land all around this area is pocked and bumpy, looking like a pebble-dashed wall. In reality, this is the marks from glaciation tens of thousand years ago across a limestone landscape, with the bumps reminding me of imperfect drumlins (learn more about sligo geography here).

Knocknashee herself is very much like Knocknarea in shape, albeit the much smaller sister of the two. The name comes from the Irish Cnoc na Sí, the Hill of the Fairies - although which fairies no one seems to know. However, like many places that are attributed to the little men, it does have a connection to our ancient ancestors. The hill is home to one of Ireland’s largest Bronze Age hill forts, with the two large stone cairns on the summit potentially being the remains of two passage tombs.

My time walking this short trail was a moment of solitude and a respite from the rain (if not wind, apologies for the audio quality in the video below). As I walked across the summit, I could tell that there were layers and layers of history below my feet - even from ground level, several of the grown-over stone circles were visible.

Reaching the larger of the two cairns, I sat on the overturned trig point cast aside beside the stones. I avoid climbing on cairns that are clearly historical, and so I only stepped gingerly on a couple of the lower blocks of this one to peak over the lip towards the tomb entrance. Looking at the cleanliness of the roof stone, I wondered if the trig point had sat up there until sometime recently (from previous excursions, I’d expect so). Nonetheless, I left the stones and the dead to themselves, and instead hunkered down out of the wind to admire the view of the Ox mountains once more, before heading back the way I had come.

*Screenshot from Apple Maps Satellite of Knocknashee plateau*

Once home that evening I looked at the satellite imagery of the hill, and was amazed at the very visible history you could see - I stopped counting just how many ancient circles I could see once I passed 20.

If you’re into your history then this hill might be worth the detour. It’s a lovely walk where the local outdoor recreation scheme team have clearly developed the best trail this hill has to offer. It’s not a walk you’re going to find on any top ten lists or must-see visits, as it’s very simple and humble in its overall scope. But if you’re passing and want a quiet moment, this is a nice spot to go.