Take a bike ride through Ireland’s heathland

In the Irish Midlands, the boglands carry a long memory. For decades, parts of this landscape were shaped by peat extraction. Now a new chapter is being written, not with machines, but with footsteps and bike wheels. 

The Midlands Trail Network will create a universally accessible walking and cycling route of around 48 kilometres. It connects Athlone to Tullamore, passing places that already draw visitors for nature and heritage, including Clonmacnoise and Lough Boora Discovery Park. Other links connect Lanesborough in County Longford towards the Royal Canal Greenway, helping build a wider network across the region. 

The experience is designed to be easy to use and high quality, with new sections and upgrades to existing trails to improve comfort and access. It also invites visitors to notice the landscape’s transformation: cutaway bog areas that have become valuable habitats, with wildlife returning over time. In places, the route sits close to rehabilitated bogland, showing how a former industrial site can become a haven for plants, birds and animals. 

Tourism is central to the project’s success. When walkers and cyclists come, they create demand for cafés, stays, guiding and local services. That visitor income supports jobs, helps maintain the route, and keeps communities connected to a landscape that is changing, and worth exploring again.