Wicklow Mountains National Park

What makes it special

The park takes in about 17,000 hectares of the Wicklow Uplands, most of it blanket bog and heath. Glendalough is the glaciated valley where most visits begin, with the Lower and Upper lakes on its floor and the monastic city near the visitor centre.

The Upper Lake sits under the valley's mountainsides. In the cliff face above it is St Kevin's Bed, a small man-made cave. Tradition says the saint lived and prayed there, though it may be a prehistoric burial place far older than him.

Beyond the lake, the valley floor was worked for lead until the 1950s. Buildings and equipment the miners used still stand there, and the crags along the Miners' Road are among the park's main rock-climbing walls.

Visiting

Starting from the Upper Lake car park puts you a few minutes' walk from the water and at the start of the Miners' Road. The road follows the shore on a sandy track through Scots pine woodland and ends at the ruined miners' village. It is graded easy and takes a little over an hour.

At the village you choose: walk back the way you came, or climb on for the Spinc, the ridge at the top of the valley. That loop makes a half-day walk and returns along a boardwalk on the ridge. Its first stretch is very steep.

Tips

Wear hiking boots and carry rain gear for the Spinc, where the paths are uneven. Check the weather before you set off and bring a map. Keep dogs on a lead around the monastic site.

A paid ticket at the visitor centre car park includes one free admission to the visitor centre. If you plan to see the exhibition, park there rather than at the Upper Lake.