The Sperrin Mountains rise to the north and west of Cookstown, a broad range of rounded hills that feel genuinely remote despite being accessible from most of Ulster within an hour. The highest point, Sawel Mountain, reaches only 678 metres, but the plateau walking and the scale of the landscape — wide valleys, bog, and heather moorland in every direction — creates an impression of emptiness unusual in Northern Ireland. There is active gold prospecting in the Sperrins; the streams carry traces of alluvial gold and commercial mining has been proposed (and resisted) on several occasions.
Walking routes range from short valley walks accessible to families to full-day ridge traverses. The Beaghmore Stone Circles are on the Sperrin foothills and easily combined with a moorland walk. The main valley road through the Sperrins from Cookstown to Omagh (the B46 and B47) is a scenic drive in its own right, passing through the heart of the range with good stopping points.