Wild Nephin National Park

Wild Nephin National Park covers 15,000 hectares of northwest Mayo, dominated by the Nephin Beg range. West of the mountains lies the Owenduff Bog, one of the last intact active blanket bog systems in western Europe. Greenland white-fronted geese, golden plover, red grouse and otters live here. Robert Lloyd Praeger called the Nephin Beg range the loneliest place in the country, and the park has not worked hard to change his mind.

The rewilding is the point. Twentieth-century conifer plantations are being taken out to let the blanket bog and native woodland come back, a process the Irish Times has described as some of the most ambitious rewilding happening on public land in Ireland.

The Ballycroy Visitor Centre is free and opens 10am to 5.30pm, with the accessible 2km Tóchar Daithí Bán nature trail on site and the Ginger and Wild café. The Claggan Mountain Coastal Trail is a gentle 1km return past ancient pine stumps emerging from the bog. The Bothy Loop and the Bangor Trail go deeper and are for experienced walkers. A free shuttle bus runs Tuesday to Saturday from June to August between Bangor Erris, Westport and the trailheads. The whole park is a gold-tier International Dark Sky Park, and the viewing sites stay open year round.