May 2013

Our knowledge of places to swim in Roscommon is very limited so we were pleased to visit the attractive surroundings of Lough Key Forest Park. This is a very well maintained facility which also has a visitors centre, forest walk, and a marina.

We got in from the slipway across from the marina and it brings you about waist height into the dark fresh water. Like all lakes you need to move carefully and watch out for underwater rocks. No jumping or diving. About 200 metres to the right of the slipway there is a small sandy area with shallow water. We didn’t get in here but it looks like a place where children can splash in the summer.

If you walk around the back of the marina and follow the lake shore path for a few hundred metres you come to few concrete jetties and we were told that people swim here during the summer. There are steps down into the water. We didn’t venture in but again be careful.

All in all, Lough Key is a lovely place for a visit. Apart from the swimming there is plenty to do and it is an ideal place for families to visit.

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Directions

From Dublin or Sligo follow the N4 and Lough Key is located between Carrick and Shannon and Boyle. The entrance is well signposted and you drive all the way through the forest to the car park beside the lake. Car parking is 4 euro. The lake side and environs are buggy and wheelchair accessible.