The Bangor Trail was nothing more than a murmur that I gently caught - and followed all the way to the north-west of Mayo, where the wild mountains and bogland can swallow a soul whole. This trail is the last remains of an ancient cattle-driving path, although do not let the words path or trail fool you, there is nothing easy in this harsh landscape.

Overview:

Distance: 28km
Elevation gain: 900m
Format: Linear Trail
Time: 1 - 2 days
Location: Co. Mayo, Wild Nephin National Park
Start / End / Parking:
For my walk of this trail, I started at the Letterkeen Trailhead within the National Park. You can start further south in the town of Newport, and follow the Western Way way-marking up to this point.
- Southern Trailhead: Letterkeen Trailhead - google maps
  One of my favourite trail heads in Ireland, there’s a variety of trails you can walk from here. It is very remote and has very limited phone coverage. There is ample parking, and when I walked it (March 2025) there were even well maintained port-a-loos!
- Northern Trailhead: Bangor Erris village - google maps
  The terminus of this trail in the village of Bangor Erris is a little vague. There is somewhere marked on google maps, but this is more of a useful guide if you’re starting from the village, as you can see the path up the mountain from there. I finished the walk at the Community Playground, where there were some picnic benches and parking.
Public Transport:
- During the summer months, the National Park runs a shuttle bus between Westport and Bangor-Erris with multiple stops along the way (see park timetable imagery below).
- Bangor Erris is serviced by Bus Eireann Route 446, which runs from Ballina to Black Sod on Belmullet.
- There is a second bus route (542) run by McGrath Coaches through Bangor Erris.
- All Local Links for the area can be found in this timetable PDF.
Trail difficulty: Moderate - Difficult
This is a “trail”, but in the wildest sense. There is way-marking, but there is no built path underfoot. This is part of the lure of this route, and something I loved about it. But do not underestimate how poor the terrain is.
Read about trail grading in Ireland here.
Trail quality: 5/5
While the underfoot conditions are extremely difficult for a trail, the overall infrastructure in the forms of huts and bothies is unprecedented for Ireland.
Views: 5/5
This is part of the dark sky reserve of Mayo, and so if you get a clear night of camping / bothy-ing, the sky is incredible.
Buggy/Wheelchair friendly: No
Dogs allowed: Yes - like all National Parks in Ireland, dogs are welcome as long as they are on a lead.
When did I walk this route: March 2025
External resources:

My car rolled over the bumpy lane, and Pauline and I looked out at the world rolling slowly past. Carl and I virtually met Pauline over seven years ago, when all three of us were living out of backpacks - she walking the coastline of Ireland while we walked all the National Waymarked Trails. Pauline and I had similarly less-than-amazing experiences of this corner of Mayo (midgies featuring heavily in both stories), and decided that our first trail together might as well be our redemption walk of Mayo.

Tucking the car into a corner of the car park, we get out and look around the Letterkeen Trailhead. “Is that a toilet?” Pauline exclaims, and sure enough, walking behind some wooden screening was a very clean, somewhat fancy port-a-loo. “Things have improved greatly in Mayo since our time here.”

It’s late march, and a drizzle starts pretty immediately as we leave the car park and head out over the river and around the forest. Most people might balk at the idea of walking a trail that is famous for being wet and boggy in Irish March weather, but there was some strategy to this choice. March can be quite an enjoyable time in the hills, as long as you have an abundance of layers with you. And top of the list - no midgies.

The rain comes and goes as we walk, our rain gear going through the usual on-and-off rain dance steps. The first approx. 4km follow the same path a the Letterkeen Loop, and the trail underfoot is very good. Reaching the Lough Avoher Shelter, we stop for a munch out of the drizzle and sign our names in the logbook. The fact that this is the second camping shelter that we’ve encountered of the day already makes me giddy inside - if you’re not Irish, you won’t know how rare this kind of infrastructure is, and therefore how happy it makes me.

Finishing our lunch, we leave the shelter and start the first gradual hill of the day. The trail is still fairly good underfoot for this climb with lots of stone. As we crest the top we take a moment for me to take some photos. Little did we know, this was going to be the last of the easy walking for many, many hours.

Coming around the west side of Nephin Beg, the trail exists as a paradox. As you look out at the vast landscape ahead of you, you can see the trail stretching for miles ahead as a distinct line through the bog. However, as you move forward, the ground underneath your feet refuses to be actually made of anything substantial. There are several small stream crossings throughout this trail, which along with testing the solidity of the blanket bog around you, make walking poles quite a useful piece of kit for this specific trail.

The route that the Bangor Trail follows used to be the main route from Bangor to Newport, dating back to the 16th Century. This is possibly one of the only “roads” you will find that is in worse repair than it was 200 years ago.

One of the more haunting old stories I heard of this trail was of a young woman walking this droving trail on her way back north, having just sold her cattle in Westport. The area was remote even then, and when she was attacked by bandits, there was no one to save her. Days later, her family worried that she’s been gone so long, walked out along the path and found her body. They took her home, and as they prepared her for burial, they untied her mass of red curls and out of her hair fell the money from the cattle sale. This was her families lifeline, and they were now saved for another year.

The stories say she still walks the trail, looking for the men - or maybe her cows, no one is sure. But it is only at dawn or dusk her presence is felt, and while “some people don't believe in ghost stories but let me tell you this - if they saw all I "seen" and heard all I heard they'd mighty soon change their minds.” - Duchas folklore collection.

Our goal for the evening was Tarsaghaun Cottage, an old herder’s cottage that is now a lovely little Bothy right on the trail. There’s also space to camp outside the small stone building, along with picnic benches and a large suspension bridge to cross the river.

Our slow going, and short spring days meant that we arrived to the building in twilight. We each erected our tents inside one of the two rooms (mostly to add an extra bubble of insulation around ourselves, and protect or belongings from being too scratched by the stone floors).

As I mentioned above, this route takes in much of the Wild Nephin National Park. When the sun sets on the National Park, it becomes the Mayo Dark Sky Park, one of only a handful of places in ireland accredited with Dark Sky status. That night we were incredibly lucky and had clear skies (and a small moon) to take in the millions of glistening specks above us.

The suspension bridge is a stunning piece of trail infrastructure - it’s visible from a distance given how flat the surrounding blanket bog is. From the bothy, there are two escape or shorter route options; if you follow the north bank of the Tharsaghaunmore River SW for approx. 1km, you will come to a track and then a tarmac road (most likely farm access so only use as a necessary escape route); from the bothy there is a second trail heading through Crooghaun forest, which turns into forestry roads, and connects out to the N59.

We continued along the Bangor Trail itself, which winds along the slopes of a couple of spot heights before coming around the west side of Crooklettercuss. From here you can see the village of Bangor Erris ahead, and the end of the trail.

The trail comes out at the back of Kiltane GAA Club. We walked further into the village, and found one or two signs for the trail, but no info board to mark its end. We wandered into Sizzlers Restaurant, a small cafe with hot food that was well seasoned by our post- trail hunger.

This is one of my favourite trails. It’s a hard one to “recommend”, as it is difficult walking and requires plenty of experience. And even if you have the experience - not everyone is looking for such an intimate experience with Irish bogland.

Thanks to Wild Nephin National Park for having such great trail infrastructure, and to the Mountain Meithal teams who have built such wonderful shelters in this area. Thanks to Pauline for the great company.