Lough Neagh - Land Based Recreation

Cycling

The Lough is encircled by the Loughshore Trail , part of the National Cycle Network (route 94) offering 128 miles of cycling on roads, quiet lanes and offshore section close to or on the Lough.

There are also local cycling opportunities within Craigavon Borough Council area including the Craigavon Trail , - a route around minor toads south of Portadown, the mountain bike trail at the City Park (Craigavon Lakes) - which now regularly received 300 visitors per month and parts of the Wetland Way that are accessible by cycle. Dungannon District Council has also developed cycle routes in the area between Coalisland and the Lough including the towpath of the Coalisland Canal.

Walking

Please click here for a list of sites that provide walking opportunities.

Birdwatching

Ornithologists from Britain and Western Europe come to study the birds of Northern Ireland every year. The province's position on the western fringes of Europe, and the sheer size of many of the flocks that breed or visit, have made it of particular interest both to the experts and the increasing number of birdwatching visitors who are able to combine their special interest with a relaxing holiday in beautiful surroundings. Huge flocks of ducks, waders and geese come south from Arctic Canada and Greenland and other northern vastnesses to pass mild winters on the Ulster wetlands.

Sites to vists include - Oxford Island, Lurgan Park, Craigavon Lakes, Peatlands Park, Ardboe and Newport Trench, Annaghroe (River Blackwater), Lough Beg, Ballyronan Point, Lough Neagh Wildfowl Refuge, Rea's Wood and Portmore Lough.

Wildfowling

Wildfowling is a traditional sport carried out by generations of local people around Lough Neagh. The habitat around the Lough supports many bird species but only some are the quarry of wildfowlers. The most common quarry are diving ducks particularly pochard, tufted duck and goldeneye, the main concentration of which arrive on Lough Neagh during the month of October.

Shooting rights are exercised over approximately two thirds of the shore and on some islands. Wildfowl refuges exist and are managed by Local Wildfowling Clubs (LWC), some of which are affiliated to British Association for Shooting and Conservation and some to Scottish Association for Countryside Sports (SACs) which has a Northern Ireland membership around Lough Neagh and Lough Erne. Some of these refuges are also managed by private individuals and other wildfowling collective organisations.