Girley Bog Eco Walk
6 km loop · About 20 m of ascent elevation
About
Girley Bog is one of the few raised bogs left in Co. Meath, and the waymarked loop through it is the walk Kells people drive out to when they want something wilder than the Hill of Lloyd. The trailhead is a Coillte car park off the N52, about 7 km from the town on the Mullingar road and signposted from Kells. The loop is 6 km and the Discover Boyne Valley route card puts it at an hour and a half to two hours. It starts in conifer forest planted on the high bog, follows a forest track, crosses the open bog and comes back by country lanes, with interpretive panels on the way. In the wettest parts there are bog mosses, heather, cottongrass and the great sundew, which traps insects on its sticky leaves; snipe and skylark are on the open bog, and warblers in the scrub at the edges in summer. It is flat but uneven and wet. Wear boots.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓One of the few remaining raised bogs in Co. Meath
- ✓Great sundew, bog mosses and cottongrass
- ✓Snipe and skylark on the open bog
- ✓Interpretive panels along the loop
Tips
- →Take the N52 towards Mullingar for about 7 km and turn left onto the forestry road; the trailhead is about 100 m in.
- →Boots and rain gear. The route card grades it moderate because of the ground, not the climb.
- →There are no facilities at the trailhead. The nearest are in Kells.