Big Dog Forest Park Up, Fermanagh: The One Worth Reversing Into

There are two places to park near Magho Jetty in Fermanagh. One of them has a toilet, coaches pulling in throughout the day, traffic thundering past on a road that’s closer than you’d like, and not a single flat section of ground. The other one is a dead end gravel track through the forest that leads to an actual jetty on a lough, costs nothing, and on a quiet evening has the kind of stillness that makes you forget you’re in a country where it rains eleven months a year, which it was the night we stayed, typical.

Guess which one we stayed in.

Two Spots, One Location

The main car park at the bottom of the Cliffs of Magho hiking trail sits right off the road. It’s the one that shows up on the apps, the one the coaches use, and the one that will have you sleeping at an angle while someone’s diesel engine idles ten metres from your window as their passengers take turns to use the one male and one female cubicle, oh, and there’s a tap at the back, which is worth knowing, and it’s two minutes on foot from the overnight spot we’re actually writing about here.

Getting In

The entrance is tight enough that you’ll want to take it slowly. It’s gravel throughout, well maintained, nothing overgrown or rough underfoot. The Y-turn at the end gives you room to manoeuvre once you’re in, I chose to reverse in, but that’s because I’ve been driving buses for years and know what I’m doing. If backing a motorhome down a forest lane isn’t your thing, stick to the main car park and walk the two minutes down.

The Jetty

There’s a track leads you straight down to Magho Jetty on the lough. It’s a short walk from where you’d park overnight, maintained path, nothing strenuous. The jetty itself is one of those places that has absolutely no right to exist in the middle of a Fermanagh forest and yet there it is, sitting on calm water with hills behind it. We nearly didn’t find it at all. Full story in the video below.