Slieve Bloom bike trails a welcome boost for rural areas

By John G O’Dwyer

The hinterland around the Slieve Bloom Mountains in two Midland counties scarred by the effects of severe rural decline is now set to receive a welcome boost.

Greatly increased numbers of bikers and hikers are expected to descend on the area with the opening of a recreational project which is, hoped will have a similar economic impact as that of the greenways in Waterford and Mayo.

Construction of stone-built bike trails by Coilte, with support from local authorities in Laois and Offaly, is already well advanced in the mountain range with an October completion of single track trails across 35kms of the Slieve Blooms.

The project is aimed at creating incremental visitor spending in the surrounding villages and towns.

The northern trailhead is planned for Kinnity in Offaly while on the southern side the trailhead will be in the Dulour Valley of Laois.

Looped biking circuits are planned from both trailheads with a linking track over the mountaintop. Visitor facilities will include information points, toilets, showers, and car parking near both trailheads, while a café is planned within the existing outbuildings of the former Baunreagh House in the Dulour Valley. These facilities are expected to act as a focal point, not only for bikers but for hikers and casual ramblers exploring the Blooms.

Laois-based Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan who had ‘turned the sod’ said the project “represents the biggest investment in tourism in Laois and Offaly in recent years. Outdoor recreation and adventure tourism is a key growth sector and has been identified as a priority for Irish tourism, he noted.

Daithi de Forge, head of recreation at Coilte which along with the National Parks and Wildlife Service owns most of the Slieve Blooms, is very optimistic.

We are targeting a different market when compared to the very successful greenways which are aimed at leisure cyclists. The Slieve Bloom Bike Trails, which will extend to 100km when fully complete, are targeting mountain biking enthusiasts. They represent one part of an overall strategy to create the sufficient critical mass of biking trails that is necessary to attract enthusiasts from abroad.

“The Slieve Blooms will offer two days of top quality riding on properly built, sustainable trails. An overnight stay in the area will be required and this should considerably increase the revenue footprint,” says de Forge. “Initially, we are targeting domestic and UK bikers but, as the critical mass of quality trails in Ireland increases, we expect visitors will come from further afield. In the first year, when we will have 35km of cross-country cycling trails, we anticipate about 30,000 trail users. This figure is soon expected to reach 50,000.”

Kinnity-based Cllr John Clendennen said: “The idea of creating bike trails in the Slieve Blooms was first proposed about 10 years ago and it has taken a long time to see it come to fruition. Now that the trails are set to open in October, with tracks in both Laois and Offaly, great enthusiasm is building locally.

“In Kinnity, we expect an increase in visitors which should lead to a greater demand for local services and investment in the area.

“The future for the village seems bright and we look forward to welcoming many mountain biking enthusiasts from across the country and further afield.”