Sixty thousand people walked the Cuilcagh Legnabrocky trail last year, as the wooden boardwalk dubbed ‘the Stairway to Heaven’ gained notoriety on social media.

The influx of visitors included over 3,000 people last Easter weekend, when 800 cars were parked along the Marlbank Road, causing traffic chaos.

Walkers are now banned from stepping off the boardwalk due to conservation issues at the specially protected summit, which one mountaineering expert previously told this newspaper has been subjected to “20 years of damage in one year.”

Cuilcagh success is damaging habitat

In a bid to pre-empt the large numbers expected this St. Patrick’s weekend and on Easter weekend, the Council is deploying additional staff and expects to spend around £13,000 on contracted security personnel, extra Marble Arch staff and signage at Cuilcagh this year.
A report presented to the FODC Regeneration and Community Committee meeting on Tuesday, explained that a long-term traffic management solution has yet to be found. The only car parking in Council ownership is at the Marble Arch Caves Visitors Centre. The limited car parking at the start of the trail is in private ownership and is now being operated as a commercial car park by the landowner.

In the meantime, the council will continue to manage traffic on key weekends and on bank holidays. These staff and contractors will provide directions to visitors and manage traffic to maintain the most sustainable situation for both visitors, residents and any other users of the site and the public road.

An hour to travel two miles in Cuilcagh traffic chaos

Portable toilets were put in place after complaints from the public about the lack of facilities during last Easter’s influx. The Council spent £6,000 emptying those portaloos, which were later subject to an arson attack.
The Council is now reviewing the provision of portable toilets. Council officials believe “they are not in keeping with the natural aesthetic of the site, they take away room for cars, it is not possible to maintain them to the standard that the public expect, and it is likely that any further portable toilets will also be targeted by vandals.”

FODC is working on an agreement with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency to open and maintain the toilets available at Killykeegan National Nature Reserve which is one kilometre away from the entrance to the Cuilcagh Legnabrocky Trail. 
“With the provision of these toilets, the toilets available to visitors at the Marble Arch Caves and even in Belcoo village it is believed that there may be sufficient provision for visitors,” the report states.

The report adds that “the popularity of the boardwalk at Cuilcagh is undoubtedly having a positive economic impact on the area.” However, it recognises “a clear imperative to develop long term environmentally sustainable solutions to the emerging usage on Cuilcagh and the transport infrastructure leading to it.”

Council officials believe that a Conservation Action Plan being developed through the Conservation Action for Natura Network (CANN) project and the Rural Development Programme project “can identify and support these solutions.”