The North West Trail Cycling
Road Cycling Trail · Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Sligo and Tyrone
The North West Trail Cycling is a 126 km very challenging waymarked linear route in Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Sligo and Tyrone, starting near Lifford.
Grade
| Activity | Grade | Difficulty | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cycling | Very Challenging | Very Challenging | 6 hours 30 minutes |
Getting there
Starts near Lifford.
- Trailhead coordinates
- 54.83768, -7.53605
- Irish Grid reference
- H 29856 98956
The National Trails Register's own latitude and longitude fields are empty for all 1,186 trails on it. This trailhead comes from Sport Ireland's separate Trailheads dataset, matched to this trail on its register ID.
About the trail
The North West Trail is a 78.5-mile cycle route through counties Donegal, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Leitrim, and Sligo in the North West of Ireland. The route travels through a wide variety of scenic landscapes, utilising quiet country roads with some traffic free sections, mostly in urban areas. On the way, you can enjoy dramatic views of the Atlantic Ocean, with scenic cycling in remote uplands and rural villages passing through the main towns of Enniskillen, Sligo, Donegal, Lifford, Strabane and Omagh. The North West Trail can be followed in either direction and consists mainly of quiet, virtually traffic-free minor roads and lanes with short stretches of traffic-free path.
Who manages it
Sustrans NI
Sustrans NI
Conditions and closures change. The operator is the authority on both, not this page.
Elsewhere
Trails nearby
Measured trailhead to trailhead, in a straight line.
- Maylin Wood 16 km away · 0.8 km trail
- Drumboe - Loop trail 16 km away · 0.9 km trail
- Drumboe - Multi-Access 16 km away · 1.3 km trail
- Drumboe - Nature trail 16 km away · 1.2 km trail
- Riverside Walk & Drumboe Trail 16 km away · 3 km trail
- EuroVelo 1 Ireland - Atlantic Coast Route 18 km away · 2300 km trail
Common questions
How long is The North West Trail Cycling?
126 km, recorded as a linear route on Sport Ireland's National Trails Register. It climbs 1,357 m in total. Sport Ireland estimates 6 hours 30 minutes.
How hard is The North West Trail Cycling?
Sport Ireland grades it Very Challenging. Grades are set against national criteria, so they are comparable with other registered trails.
Where does The North West Trail Cycling start?
Starts near Lifford. The trailhead is at 54.83768, -7.53605 (Irish Grid H 29856 98956).
Who manages The North West Trail Cycling?
Sustrans NI. They are the authority on current conditions and closures, not this page.
More in Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Sligo and Tyrone
Trail data from the Sport Ireland National Trails Register, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Trailhead coordinates from the companion Trailheads dataset. Snapshot taken 2026-08-13.