Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [604]
The hiking trail from the lough shore to the Magho Viewpoint has been blocked by a landslide, but you can get there by car or bike. The vehicle entrance to Lough Navar Forest Park is on the minor Glennasheevar road between Garrison and Derrygonnelly, 20km southeast of Belleek (take the B52 towards Garrison, and fork left after 2.5km).
Activities
FISHING
The lakes of Fermanagh are renowned for both coarse and game fishing. The Lough Erne trout-fishing season runs from the beginning of March to the end of September. Salmon fishing begins in June and also continues to the end of September. The mayfly season usually lasts a month from the second week in May. There’s no closed season for coarse fish.
You’ll need both a licence (issued by the Fisheries Conservancy Board) and a permit (from the owner of the fishery). Licences and permits can be purchased from the tourist information centre Click here and Home, Field & Stream, both in Enniskillen, and from the marina in Castle Archdale Country Park, which also hires out fishing rods. A combined licence and permit for game fishing on Lough Erne costs £8.50/24 for three/14 days.
The Belleek Angling Centre in the Thatch Coffee Shop (left) in Belleek sells fishing tackle and can arrange boat hire for anglers, and you can get expert instruction in fly-casting from Michael Shortt ( 6638 8184; fish.teach@virgin.net).
Enniskillen’s tourist information centre also provides a free guide to angling in Fermanagh and South Tyrone, which has full details of lakes and rivers, fish species, seasons and permit requirements.
BOAT HIRE
A number of companies hire out day boats at Enniskillen, Killadeas and Castle Archdale Country Park. Rates range from about £10 to £15 per hour for an open rowing boat with outboard motor to £60/90 per half-/full-day for a six-seater with cabin and engine. The tourist information centre in Enniskillen has a full list of companies and costs.
CANOEING
The Lough Erne Canoe Trail (www.canoeni.com) highlights the attractions along the 50km of lough and river between Belleek and Belturbet. The wide open expanses of the Lower Lough can build up big waves in a strong breeze and are best left to experts, but the sheltered backwaters of the Upper Lough are ideal for beginners and families.
You can pick up a map and guide (£1.50) showing public access points, camping sites and other facilities along the trail from the tourist information office in Enniskillen. Canoe hire is available from the Lakeland Canoe Centre, also in Enniskillen, and Ultimate Watersports (below).
WATERSPORTS
Working out of Castle Archdale marina and Lusty Beg island, Ultimate Watersports ( 07808 736818, 07863 344172; www.ultimatewatersports.co.uk) offers equipment hire and instruction in water-skiing, wakeboarding, jet-skiing, canoeing, dinghy sailing and power-boating.
Getting There & Away
On the eastern side of the lough, Ulsterbus service 194 from Enniskillen to Pettigo via Irvinestown (four or five daily Monday to Saturday) stops near Castle Archdale Country Park (35 minutes) and Kesh (one hour). In July and August only, bus 99 goes from Enniskillen to Belleek (£4, 45 minutes, four daily Monday to Friday, three on Saturday, one on Sunday) along the western shoreline via Blaney, Tully Castle and the Cliffs of Magho car park, terminating at Bundoran.
Bus 64 travels from Enniskillen to Belcoo (£2, 25 minutes, seven or eight daily Monday to Friday, three on Saturdays, one on Sundays); the Sunday bus and two of the Thursday buses continue to Garrison, Belleek and Bundoran.
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WEST OF LOUGH ERNE
Florence Court
Part of the motivation for the first Earl of Belmore to build Castle Coole (near Enniskillen) was to keep up with the Joneses – in the 1770s his aristocratic neighbour William Willoughby Cole, the first Earl of Enniskillen, had overseen the addition of grand Palladian wings to the beautiful, baroque country house called Florence Court, named after his Cornish grandmother Florence