Please Check With the Covid guidelines and Restrictions before attempting any of these hikes. At present, there is a 5km restriction from your house so adventue and explore within your 5km local area and these hikes will be here for you when its safe to travel again. Stay safe, Thank You

1. Mount Leinster

Mount Leinster is the highest point in County Wexford and Carlow. It sits at an altitude of 795m and has road access to the summit. The walk starts at the 9 stones viewing point.

• Amazing Views from the top
• Tarmac Road to the Top
• Buggy Friendly to the mast only
• Very Steep (But rewarding)
• Allow 2-3 hours including breaks
• Optional hikes to Knockroe, and the Blackstairs

2. Raven point Wood

Ravin Point is situated beside Curracloe beach in County Wexford. The walk is a 7km long lopped walk with an additional option to do the return loop along the beach. The walk starts at the entrance to Raven wood. At the start of the walk, there is a large carpark but it fills up very quickly on the weekends so come early.

This is a lovely walk filled with woodland trails, beach walks and lots of sea views. Visit Wexford has a map available.

• Woodland section only buggy friendly
• 2-hour walk with stops for snacks and sandcastles
• 7km+ walk depending on the route
• Amazing quite beach
• Large car park

3. Edenvale

We only recently discovered Edenvale and it was by chance. We drove past the entrance one day and spotted the walk sign, so we decided to explore it. Edenvale is situated between the N11 to Wexford town and Castlebridge. The Walk is through a woodland trail that follows along the River Sow to a water pumping station. If you decide to explore the water plant bring straps to keep the kids safe. It is buggy-friendly until you reach the water plant at the end. A metal platform leads you to the rear of the plant where there are stairs that allows you to walk alongside the waterfall to the top. There you will see an old bridge and the ruins of an old building.

• 2.5km long
• Buggy friendly
• Bring straps for small kids
• Flat walk

4. Oulart Hill – Tulach A Tsolais 

At the top of Oulart Hill is a monument to the United Irishmen’s uprising of 1798 called Tulach a’ tSolais. The car park at the start of the walk is large with lots of information signs. The monument is a 500m walk away from the carpark and is buggy friendly out to the monument. The walkout to the monument is filled with 360-degree views of Wexford and surrounding counties. Additional walks can be done but they entail road walking and are not buggy friendly see our previous blog post and Wexford walking trails for more information.

• Large Carpark
• Easy walk to the monument
• 1km is the shortest walk
• Hilltop walk
• Buggy friendly
• Large Carpark
• Great views
• Kids love exploring the monument
• Additional walks available

5. Lackin Hill

Lackin Hill is situated just outside New Ross. The walk to Lackin Hill starts at the Dunbrody Forest Walk and is fully signposted with large information boards at the start see here. Our Kids love the 5km walk up to the top of Lacken Hill. It’s filled with a large fairy village 100m away from the start and Ourlittlehikers loved every step of this. The route to the top of Lackin Hill is not buggy friendly but is sprinkled with fairy doors painted onto trees to help motivate little legs. There are 4 walking routes available to walk in Lackin Hill.

• 5km walk
• Fairy village
• Large Cross at the summit
• Not buggy friendly
• Large Car park
• Additional walks available

6. Cahore Cliff Walk

The Cahore cliff walk starts beside Cahore pier. We walked up Cahore Strand road until we got to the start of the trail. The trail is 2.5km in total and is an out and back walk. The path is wide and in good condition. There are amazing views of the sea, lots of sandy beaches and lots of birds overhead. We went on a winter’s day, so lots of layers were essential to keep warm. You can walk on the beach at the end if the weather permits. We decided on a nice hot chocolate at Cahore Strand instead.

• 2.5km long out and back and an optional 5km looped walk
• Buggy friendly
• Great sea views
• Beach section at the end
• A coffee shop at the start/finish with pizza :)
• Lots of parking

7. Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey is a great stopping point if you plan to visit Hook lighthouse. Use Eircode Y34 KR64 to get to the carpark.  There is an admission fee into the Abbey and walled garden but there are amazing FREE walks around the grounds. This is a great place to explore. The grounds are filled with lots of distractions for children to explore and wander around. There are 4 walks available at the Abbey.

• Free admission to walks
• Free large carpark
• Buggy friendly walks
• Wood carvings/distractions
• Good paths/signs
• Woodland walks
• Nice bridge/river walks

8. Tara Hill

Tara Hill is a lovely forest walk in the village of Tara. There are 2 walks available and both require some road walking. The views from the top of Tara Hill are amazing and well worth an out and back walk if you do not want to do the road sections. This walk is not buggy friendly. The start of the walk can be accessed from here.

• Limited parking
• Not buggy friendly
• Great views from the top
• Road sections
• Poor signposts

9. Carrigfoyle Quarry

Carrigfoyle Quarry seems to be a bit of a hidden gem in Wexford. The walk around the quarry is currently receiving a facelift but you can still walk down to the lake and around sections of the higher forest. We still used the old car park at the side of the road but the new sign at the trailhead shows a new carpark here.

• Limited Parking but being extended
• Buggy friendly
• Amazing lake views
• Short loop walk
• 15 minutes from Wexford Town

10. Sliabh Coillte

Slieve Coillte is opposite the JFK Arboretum. The access road to the top of Slieve Coillte has opening times but access to the top is free. The road is 3km long to the top and can be walked or drove. There are a number of stopping and viewing points along the way to the top. At the top, there are nice loop walks around the summit along with a 1798 memorial and a trig point. Sliabh Coillte has stunning views and is a great starter high point to get young children interested in walking and hiking.

• Stunning views
• Free access
• Large carpark
• A short walk around the summit
• Visit JFK Arboretum after
• Great picnic location

The post 10 Best Family Walks in Wexford appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

• Good path to the summit

• Limited Parking

• 8km out and back

• Hiking boots required

• No sign posts

• Amazing views

Knockroe Blackstairs Mountains/ Mount Leinster Carlow

Our little family hike on Knockroe in County Carlow which borders County Wexford and the Blackstairs mountains. The mountain sits at a height of 540m and is overshadowed by its neighbour Mount Leinster. The hike can be started from Scullogue gap car park or from Mount Leinster/ the nine stones. The hike up Knokroe from Scullogue gap is 4km out and 4km back- 8km in total.

Knockroe Bombing History

To give a very brief history of the bombing event. In 1941, a German bomber dropped 8 bombs at Knockroe with the third bomb hitting the Shannon Family farmhouse and killing 3 members of the family. Additional information can be found here and here.

Parking to hike Knockroe

This guide will detail how to hike Knockroe from the Blackstairs/ Scullogue gap side of the mountain. It is also possible to park at the 9 stones and hike over Mount Leinster and then onto Knockroe. The section of the hike is done on the Blackstairs mountains challenge.

Parking at Scullogue gap is done in two places “Scullogue Gap car park” and “Shannon’s lane parking”.

The hike starts at the bottom of a Shannons lane. The Eircode of the farmer’s house at the bottom of the lane is possibly the easiest way to find the parking/starting point. The Eircode of the farmer’s house is R95A5X2. There is enough space in both places to park 4-5 cars at each location.

Knockroe Hike – Blackstairs mountains

We started the hike at the sign of the 1941 bombing. Initially, we felt we were walking up a private lane but the lane is a trail to Knockroe.

The hike to the summit of Knockroe is a steady climb to the top. The hike is a nice quiet, safe hike. The cottage that was bombed in 1941 is 300m on the right-hand side.

We eventually reach a pedestrian gate and start gaining in height. We walked sandwiched between two stone walls and the Blackstairs mountains start to become visible behind us the higher we walk.

At the start of the forest, we reach another gate. After the gate, we are greeted with two very old abandoned stone cottages. Ourlittlehiker cannot understand why these houses have no roofs and why sheep are living in the house :)

After the forest, the stone walls disappear but the trail is still very prominent. We continue to follow the trail and now we can see mount Leinster in front of us.

Between the base of Mount Leinster and Knockroe, the trail up Knockroe starts to circle around the base slightly but then zig-zags to our left-hand side gaining height upward toward the summit.

Summit of Knockroe

At the summit of Knockroe, there is a ruin of an old house/building. We briefly had a quick look around but continued our hike down to the Holy cross on the other side of the hill.

We followed the trial already warn into the top of the hill downhill toward the cross.

Our Instagram Reel of the Hike

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Knockroe Map

The post Hike Knockroe Blackstairs Mountains Carlow appeared first on Our Family Hikes.