First pick
Marlbank Wood
Wood or forest · 360 m outside town
28 ha
1.0 km southfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0–Not graded
Outdoors in Blacklion · parks, paths & countryside
Blacklion has more park space per resident than nearly 9 in 10 Irish towns
Parks and playing fields in Blacklion add up to 13.3 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1. 5 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Blacklion, among them the Cavan Way and Cavan Burren Park - Promontry Fort Trail. 3 km of footpaths run through the town and the kilometre around it, 0.6 for every square kilometre.
Green space
13.3 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
3 km
0.6 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
1.5%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Corratirrim SAC
Woodland
8.1%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Blacklion?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Room to roam13.3 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents, more than 88% of Irish towns.On a long-distance trailThe Cavan Way passes through.Hills close byCullentragh, 276 m, is within 2 km.Parks can be a walk away100% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Blacklion’s strongest suit is plenty of park space, followed by the Cavan Way. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Against other towns
How Blacklion compares with Irish towns
Each figure against Ireland’s 321 towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (city hubs left out): the marked bar is the town’s, the line the median. Ireland has no Outdoors Grade yet: the figures are described, each against other Irish towns, and none of them counts towards the overall grade.
A park within a walk0%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
0out of 100
Public green space13.3 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
88out of 100
Footpaths0.6 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
17out of 100
Protected for nature1.5%of the land within 5 km
47out of 100
Woodland8.1%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
90out of 100
Parks, paths and woods: OpenStreetMap; residents: CSO Census 2022 Small Areas; protected sites: NPWS; sea: CSO and ONS land outlines. A 0 means nothing is mapped.
Towns its size
Blacklion has the 17th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (175 to 3,141 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Ballybrack (8.6 km per km²) to Sixmilebridge (0 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Blacklion0.6
Towns its size0.7
Co. Cavan towns0.6
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Blacklion13.3
Towns its size4.1
Co. Cavan towns2.2
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Blacklion0%
Towns its size83%
Co. Cavan towns80%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Blacklion stands out most for park space per resident: only 5 of the other 39 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 39 of the others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballybrack Dublin | 8.6 | 8% | 0.2% | 36% |
| 2 | Sunday's Well Cork | 7.3 | 2.7% | 0.4% | – |
| 3 | Blackpool Cork | 6.6 | 3% | 1.4% | – |
| 4 | Carna Dublin | 5.4 | 1.7% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Taylor's Hill Galway | 5.1 | 1.2% | 15% | 37% |
| 6 | Togher Cork | 5 | 1.5% | 0.5% | – |
| 7 | Decies Dublin | 4.8 | 7.2% | 0% | – |
| 8 | Mayfield Cork | 4.7 | 5.3% | 3.3% | – |
| 9 | Kylemore Dublin | 4 | 3% | 0% | – |
| 10 | Edenmore Dublin | 2.8 | 3.6% | 5.9% | 24% |
| 11 | Ballynanty Limerick | 2.5 | 5.7% | 12% | – |
| 12 | Claddagh Galway | 2.4 | 0.2% | 17% | 46% |
| 13 | Murrough Galway | 2.3 | 5.1% | 10% | 26% |
| 14 | Grange Upper Waterford | 1.4 | 1.5% | 6.6% | – |
| 15 | Blarney Cork | 1.4 | 14% | 0% | – |
| 16 | Kilbarry Waterford | 1.3 | 1.6% | 5.1% | – |
| 17 | Bantry Cork | 1 | 4.4% | 0% | 18% |
| 18 | Ballina Tipperary | 0.9 | 1.8% | 4.7% | – |
| 19 | Moate Westmeath | 0.7 | 2.4% | 2.4% | – |
| 20 | Callan Kilkenny | 0.7 | 0.1% | 2.3% | – |
| 21 | Kingscourt Cavan | 0.7 | 12% | 0% | – |
| 22 | Kenmare Kerry | 0.6 | 7.2% | 6.5% | 6.4% |
| 23 | Athboy Meath | 0.6 | 1.1% | 1.5% | – |
| 24 | Blacklion Cavan | 0.6 | 8.1% | 1.5% | – |
| 25 | Bundoran Donegal | 0.5 | 2% | 5.1% | 35% |
| 26 | Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) Carlow | 0.5 | 3.9% | 2.9% | – |
| 27 | Skibbereen Cork | 0.5 | 1.7% | 1.6% | – |
| 28 | Kinnegad Westmeath | 0.3 | 4.5% | 4.5% | – |
| 29 | Donegal Donegal | 0.3 | 4% | 4.1% | 12% |
| 30 | Boyle Roscommon | 0.3 | 3.2% | 0% | – |
| 31 | Bailieborough Cavan | 0.3 | 10% | 0% | – |
| 32 | Castleisland Kerry | 0.3 | 1.7% | 12% | – |
| 33 | Kanturk Cork | 0.3 | 0% | 5.1% | – |
| 34 | Baltinglass Wicklow | 0.2 | 4.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 35 | Ballyhaunis Mayo | 0.2 | 2.8% | 3.4% | – |
| 36 | Kilrush Clare | 0.2 | 9.8% | 37% | – |
| 37 | Ballyjamesduff Cavan | 0.2 | 7.6% | 0% | – |
| 38 | Gort Galway | 0.2 | 4.3% | 24% | – |
| 39 | Carndonagh Donegal | 0.1 | 4.9% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| 40 | Sixmilebridge Clare | 0 | 0.7% | 2% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Blacklion’s urban area.
Green: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces and woods, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · NPWS · Sport Ireland · CSO
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Blacklion
The biggest is Marlbank Wood, 28 ha (69 acres).
Named parks, gardens, commons and woods in the town or within 400 m of it, from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); pieces of one name that touch are one place. Sizes are the whole site; directions go to a point inside.
Close to home
Few Blacklion residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (CSO Census 2022 Small Areas against OpenStreetMap).
Within 400 m (0%)Further (100%)
Blacklion0%
Co. Cavan towns80%
Typical Irish town92%
About 200 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
1.5% of the land around Blacklion is protected for nature
Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and Natural Heritage Areas designated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, within 5 km of the town’s edge.
Inside Blacklion0%
Within 5 km1.5%
Co. Cavan towns0%
Typical Irish town1.8%
One protected site lies within 5 km of Blacklion. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 4.2% of the land within 5 km as well; many have been proposed since 1995 and aren’t counted here. Ireland’s National Parks have a block of their own on this page; much of their land also lies inside these sites.
Corratirrim SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 1.2 km² · 1.1 km from the edge
NPWS pageProtected sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service designated site boundaries (CC BY 4.0), 2026; land within 5 km from CSO Small Areas and, over the border, ONS. Overlapping sites are counted once.
National Parks
Glenveagh National Park is 69 km away
Ireland’s National Parks within 100 km, and the nearest always, by direction and distance from the town’s edge; circle size shows each park’s area.
National ParkThe 5 km around the town
National Park
Glenveagh National Park
69 km north155 km²
National Park boundaries: National Parks and Wildlife Service, generalised to 50 m (CC BY 4.0, © Government of Ireland), 2022. Distances from the town’s outline (CSO Small Areas).
Footpaths and woods
3 km of footpaths cross Blacklion
Footways that aren’t pavements, paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, and mapped woods and forest, in the town and 1 km around it, each beside the county’s and Ireland’s typical town of 2,500+.
Footpaths
3.3 km
over 5.6 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
8.1%
about 0.5 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
5
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
BlacklionCo. Cavan townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths0.6
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
BlacklionCo. Cavan townsTypical Irish town
Woodland8.1%
0%50%100%
Blacklion has less footpath per km² than 83% of Irish towns and more woodland than 90% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
Blacklion is on the Cavan Way
3 km of footpaths are mapped in Blacklion and the kilometre around it, 0.6 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Long-distance wayWalking trail
Cavan Way21.7 km
Cavan Burren Park - Promontry Fort Trail2.9 km
Cavan Burren Park - Giant's Leap Trail2.0 km
Cavan Burren Park - Tullygobban Lough Trail1.7 km
Cavan Burren Park - Calf House Dolmen Trail1.1 km
The Cavan Way (22 km end to end) passes through Blacklion. 2 cycling or paddling trails also start within 5 km.
3 more waymarked walks on OpenStreetMap
NationalOther waymarked
Ulster Way5.2 km
Blacklion - Kinameel3.0 km
Blacklion Village Loop0.7 km
Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0), registered trails within 5 km; footpaths: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). More waymarked walks: OpenStreetMap route relations (ODbL) within 2 km, those already on the register left out. Coillte’s own forest trails and recreation sites aren’t included: Coillte’s terms limit its data to research or private study. Its trails on the National Trails Register are listed.
When to get out
The best walking months in Blacklion: May to September
Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages for the town’s 1 km square and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 15 to 30 °C and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 7.9 | 9.6 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 17.2 | 16.7 | 14.9 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.3 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 137 | 115 | 102 | 83 | 82 | 85 | 103 | 114 | 99 | 130 | 138 | 149 |
May is the driest month (82 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.3 hours of daylight in December, and 149 mm of rain falls in December, the wettest month. The climate in Blacklion →
Things to do
1 viewpoint and 4 hills and peaks
Mapped on OpenStreetMap in the town and 2 km around it; each count per resident beside Irish towns’ typical town of 2,500+. Beaches are on the coast’s list, from the EPA.
Per resident, playgrounds stand out most: Blacklion has 13.2× as many as the typical Irish town. The highest named top on the map is Tuam, at 73 m, 0.9 km from town.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Marlbank Viewpoint1.6 km from town
DirectionsHills and peaks 4
Tuam73 m · 0.9 km from town
DirectionsTure178 m · 1.1 km from town
DirectionsAughrim157 m · 1.5 km from town
DirectionsCullentragh276 m · 1.7 km from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 3
Plus 3 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 4
Plus 4 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
A garden or nature site to visit near Blacklion
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Cuilcagh Lakelands GeoparkNature site · In Blacklion
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Green space nearby. The share of residents (CSO Small Areas, by where people live) within 400 m of a park, garden, common or playing field mapped on OpenStreetMap. Mapping is uneven: a town whose parks nobody has mapped looks greyer than it is.
- Protected areas. Land in a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area or Natural Heritage Area within 5 km, overlaps counted once. Protected for nature doesn’t always mean open to walkers.
- Footpaths and hiking routes. Footways that aren’t pavements, paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, in the town and 1 km around it, from OpenStreetMap. Trails are the registered ones within 5 km; a trail often follows mapped paths, so the two aren’t added.
- Woodland. Woods and forest as OpenStreetMap maps them, private and Coillte forests included: mapped cover, not access.
- No grade yet. Ireland’s grades don’t include the outdoors yet: these figures describe the town and stand beside the median Irish town.
Questions about the outdoors in Blacklion
Is there protected countryside near Blacklion?
Yes: 1.5% of the land within 5 km is protected, in one site. The nearest is Corratirrim SAC, 1.1 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Blacklion?
5 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Cavan Way, Cavan Burren Park - Promontry Fort Trail and Cavan Burren Park - Giant's Leap Trail.
How many people in Blacklion live near a park?
0% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a park or playing field; in the typical Irish town it is 92%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Blacklion?
On the town’s 1991–2020 averages and its daylight: May to September, when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light for the place.
Is Blacklion near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Glenveagh National Park, 69 km north of the town’s edge; it covers about 155 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Blacklion?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 1 viewpoint and 4 hills and peaks; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Blacklion’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks, woods and paths. OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): parks, woods and footpaths, Geofabrik extract, October 2026
- Protected sites. National Parks and Wildlife Service: designated sites (SAC, SPA, NHA), 2026
- Trails. Sport Ireland: National Trails Register, 2026
- Residents. CSO: Census 2022 Small Areas (residents)
- National Parks. National Parks and Wildlife Service: National Park boundaries, generalised to 50 m (CC BY 4.0), 2022
- Things to do. OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): viewpoints, hills, waterfalls, nature reserves, picnic sites, playgrounds, campsites and waymarked walks, Geofabrik extract, October 2026
- Weather. Met Éireann: 1991–2020 averages (Copyright Met Éireann)
Protected sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service (CC BY 4.0). Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0). Bathing water: EPA (CC BY 4.0). Parks, woods and paths: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Not on this page yet: Coillte’s forest trails (its terms) and bike routes.
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).