Carrick-on-Shannon – Keshcarrigan – Ballinamore – Leitrim – Lough Key Forest Park – Boyle – Carrick-on-Shannon
1 week - 26 hours - 208 km - 22 locks
Leave Carrick and head north towards Leitrim. You could stop here for lunch and check you have a Lock Card for the Shannon-Erne Waterway.
Lock 16 is in Leitrim and all the locks on the Shannon-Erne Waterway are self-operated – but they are all electric/hydraulic and very easy and fun to operate. Stop off at Keshcarrigan for the night, eat on board.
Next morning, more locks and on to Ballinamore with plenty to see and do. You won’t have time to get to the Erne, so turn back and stay the night in Leitrim.
It’s a shorter day today, so before you get back to Carrick, turn right up the Boyle River and into Lough Key. For a day with a difference, moor at the Forest Park and spend the day exploring the trails and walking the Tree Canopy Trail.
Stay the night here and next day go across the lake to Boyle, with its historic buildings and plentiful bars. It’s time to head home, so take a leisurely day and go down river to Carrick for your last night.