Blackslee Waterfall Walk | Marble Arch Caves Geopark

This walking route takes you deep into Blackslee forest, along forest tracks, where coniferous plantations comprising mainly of Sitka spruce dominate. Sitka spruce is commonly used for commercial timber production in Ireland due to its fast growth rate and ability to adapt well to upland areas and it is therefore no surprise that Blackslee forest is a prefect location for this fast growing, upland conifer. Dotted along the route are areas where the tree cover is sparse and light freely penetrates the floor creating a delicate and aromatic woodland carpet of wood sorrel, wild garlic and bluebells in the spring. This is in contrast to the fringes of the forest tracks where heathland and bog plants dominate. Healthland habitats are usually intertwined with peatland or bog habitats and are extremely hard to differentiate as they contain many of the same plants and animals. However, bogs occur where peat are greater than 0.5m whereas, heathlands usually occur on thin peats less than 0.5 metres deep. In spring and summer, the fringes of these forest tracks are a haze with shades of purple as heathers, cross-leaved heath and bilberry flourish. The forest track eventually veers left passing an ancient rath or ringfort. In Ireland, over 40,000 sites have been identified as ringforts and it is generally accepted that 50,000 or more ringforts existed on the island. Consnesus cannot be reached on when they were buit or what their function was. However, this particular ringfort was most probably used for defence. Further along the pathway you will be greated by a large number of sandstone boulders that were left behind when the ice sheets melted at the end of the als when the t ice age about 13,000 years ago. If you keep your eyes peeled you might be lucky enough to see some, of native wildlife along the route. One of the most intriguing mammals found in Lough Navar Forest are deer. Of the three types of wild deer only the red deer is native and it is present in this forest.

Undoubtely, the most spectaculr feature of this walk is Blackslee waterfall. The sights and sounds of this small stream tumbling over the sandstone rocks is well worth experiecing - a perfect conclusion to this walk. This walk is situated in a working forest environment and maybe subject to temporary diversion and closure. In such circumstances, please ensure that all safety signage is complied with. All Forest Service woodlands are sustainably managed and certified against international standards that demonstrate good environmental, social and economic principles.