Marble Arch Caves & Cuilcagh Boardwalk
A river running underground and a wooden walkway across the bog above it
About the Caves and the Boardwalk
Marble Arch Caves and the Cuilcagh Boardwalk are the two main visitor sites within the Cuilcagh Lakelands UNESCO Global Geopark, a cross-border designation covering parts of west Fermanagh and Cavan. The caves sit below the limestone foothills near Florencecourt. The boardwalk runs across the blanket bog on Cuilcagh Mountain itself, the long flat-topped hill above them. They are part of the same landscape — one above ground, one below — and most visitors do one or the other on a given day, not both.
The caves are an active river-cave system carved through Carboniferous limestone laid down some 340 million years ago. A guided tour takes you along a constructed pathway through a series of chambers, with a short boat section across an underground pool. The Cladagh River reappears at the surface beyond the cave mouth. There are stalactites, calcite columns, a roof gallery known as the Moses Walk where a glass floor sits above flowing water. The caves were opened to the public in 1985.
The Cuilcagh Boardwalk, locally known as the Stairway to Heaven, was built in 2015 to protect the blanket bog from the foot traffic the route was already attracting. The full trail is about 4 miles / 6.5 kilometres return from the car park, of which the boardwalk section itself is roughly 1.6 km and finishes with a wooden staircase of around 450 steps to a small viewing platform. The platform sits just below the summit of Cuilcagh Mountain at 665 m. The platform is the end of the trail. Access beyond it to the summit cairn is not permitted, in order to allow the peat to recover.
The bog itself is the point of the walk, not just the view. Blanket bog of this scale and intactness is rare in Europe, and the boardwalk crosses some of the best of it — pools of dark peat-stained water, sphagnum moss in fifteen different colours, cottongrass in summer. The flat, exposed nature of the upland means the weather is a real factor. Cloud sits on the boardwalk for half the year.
The caves and the boardwalk are managed together by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and have a single visitor centre at Marlbank, near Florencecourt. The car park there is the trailhead for the boardwalk as well as the gateway to the cave tour. They share a postcode but the boardwalk trailhead car park is along the road from the cave entrance, and is separate from it.
Essential information
Location
Marlbank, near Florencecourt, BT92 1EW. Cave visitor centre and boardwalk trailhead are both on Marlbank Scenic Loop.
Boardwalk
Open year-round, dawn to dusk. Free. Allow about 3 hours return. Grade: difficult.
Caves
Tours by booking only, seasonal. Adult admission applies. Check marblearchcaves.co.uk for current hours and dates.
Parking
Boardwalk car park: charge applies. Cave centre: free for paying tour customers.
Pair with
Florencecourt House (NT), Enniskillen, Devenish Island
What you'll see
The Marble Arch itself
The natural limestone arch above the resurgence of the Cladagh River, on a short woodland walk from the visitor centre. The arch gives the caves their name — nothing to do with marble, everything to do with a stone bridge cut by water.
The cave tour
A guided walk through lit chambers, a short boat section across an underground pool, the Moses Walk gallery with the river flowing under glass. Roughly 75 minutes from start to finish.
The boardwalk
A 1.6 km wooden walkway across upland blanket bog, finishing with the long zigzag staircase to the viewing platform. From the platform, the view runs north over Fermanagh's lakelands and south over the Cavan border.
The bog
Active blanket bog with pools, sphagnum hummocks, cottongrass and, in autumn, bog asphodel and ling heather. The boardwalk keeps you off the peat — please keep to it.
The viewing platform
A small wooden deck just below the flat summit plateau. The end of the marked trail. Don't be tempted to walk on beyond — the route to the cairn is closed and the peat past the platform is genuinely hazardous in poor visibility.
The Cladagh Glen
The wooded river gorge below the cave exit, with a short looped walk along the river. Good for an hour after the cave tour, especially with children.
Practical tips
Getting there
About 15 minutes by car south-west of Enniskillen on the Marlbank Loop. No bus. Allow at least half a day from Enniskillen for either site.
Footwear
Boots for the boardwalk — the gravel approach track is rough and the steps can be slick when wet. Trainers fine for the caves.
Weather
Cuilcagh is exposed and the summit is in cloud often. Check the forecast before setting out and carry a waterproof regardless. The caves don't care what it's doing outside.
Booking
Cave tours sell out at weekends and in school holidays — book online. Boardwalk is free, no booking, but the car park fills early on bright weekends.
Dogs
Not allowed on the boardwalk — ground-nesting birds and exposed peat. Not allowed in the caves.
Refreshments
Café at the cave visitor centre, seasonal. Nothing at the boardwalk trailhead. Carry water and food for the walk.
A wider trip
Fermanagh rewards a slower itinerary than most of Northern Ireland. From Marlbank it's twenty minutes back to Enniskillen and another half hour to the islands of Lower Lough Erne, including Devenish with its round tower and White Island with its carved figures.
For more on the county, see the Fermanagh lakelands guide in the journal.
Photo Credits
Photo by Limnoporus, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Full credits on the attributions page.