wexford hikes Archives — Our Family Hikes https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/tag/wexford-hikes/ A family hiking blog around ireland Sun, 16 Jan 2022 11:19:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 136102945 Arthurstown to Duncannon Coastal Walk Co Wexford https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/arthurstown-to-duncannon-coastal-walk-co-wexford/ Sun, 09 May 2021 07:56:31 +0000 https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/?p=4686 Arthurstown to Duncannon Coastal Walk Co Wexford We decided to start the coastal walk at Killesk church (Eircode Y34 AV90) on the Duncannon road as it allowed us to park our car in a safe location and it removed all the road walking from this trail. The church entrance is opposite the trail here. We [...]

The post Arthurstown to Duncannon Coastal Walk Co Wexford appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

]]>
Arthurstown to Duncannon Coastal Walk Co Wexford

We decided to start the coastal walk at Killesk church (Eircode Y34 AV90) on the Duncannon road as it allowed us to park our car in a safe location and it removed all the road walking from this trail. The church entrance is opposite the trail here. We have a 6-week old baby in our hiking family, so we needed to bring our buggies and avoid the metal stairs at the Arthurstown start point here.

Arthurstown walk parking

Walk key information

** This trail is open to the public but it is not fully finished yet**

  • Distance- out and back walk 4km total
  • Time- 1 hour 30mins – 2 hours (With kids)
  • Parking- Available at church (Eircode Y34 AV90) or Arthurstown Quay
  • Difficulty- 3 out of 10. The path is not finished yet.
  • Recommendation- 7 out of 10. This has great potential when complete.
  • Buggy friendly- Very bumpy must start from Duncannon side
  • Length- 2km to Arthurstown and 2km back to Duncannon, 4km total.

About the Arthurstown to Duncannon walk

Killesk Church is directly opposite our starting point. We parked on the church grounds and started our walk on a dust path that cuts through the farmland of Dunbrody house. The walk initially cuts through 2 fields with distant sea views to our left. This is a perfect location to let the 2 and 4-year-olds release energy after their long drive. You can find out more about this beautiful Wexford coast walk here.

We reach a cross junction with some old signposts point straight on. Turn left here and go down the hill into the mature woodland. The map below shows the correct route to take.

We continued straight (this was the wrong direction) and walked until we reached the Dunbrody house hotel. We knew this was not correct and turned around.

Junction for Arthurstown coastal path

After we turned down the hill toward Arthurstown, we walked into a shaded dense woodland. The forest floor was covered in thousands of bluebells.

The path had a very poor surface which was barely suitable for buggies but with a bit of Daddy power, we made our way down to the bottom. The hill down was steep and all we were thinking was how hard this was going to be walking back up with 2 buggies.

When we came out of the woodland we were greeted with beautiful coastal views. The path cut through dense gorse bushes on one side and the sea filled with passing boats on the other side. The gorse bushes provided an amazing coconut scent to our walk.

We walked to the end of the trail where Wexford Council are adjusting the walk to provide better access at the Arthurstown starting point. We had a small picnic here admiring the beautiful Wexford coastline. Wexford is really a beautiful county.

Would we recommend the Arthurstown to Duncannon Coastal Walk?

Yes, our children loved this walk. When the signposting and surface are improved, we can see this walk becoming an annual walk for our little family. It’s hard to give negative feedback about the lack of signs, as it’s still a work in progress. Once this walk is finished it will be a fabulous walk.

Is the coastal walk child safe?

We feel it is safe for children. Most of the dangerous sections are either fenced off or not too steep. If you don’t walk the Duncannon road section the walk is totally safe and really beautiful.

Is the walk buggy friendly?

It is buggy friendly to an extent. If you have a big-wheeled buggy it would be more suited to this trail. We walked this trail with a mountain buggy and travel buggy but did find it difficult in stages due to surface conditions.

Note– It’s only buggy friendly from the Duncannon side as there is a large metal staircase on the Arthurstown side of the walk.

Activities after our walk- Duncannon Beach

Sadly, this was our first time visiting Duncannon. We drove down to the beach and to our great surprise and excitement we could drive onto the beach. This proved to be a great novelty with the children and parents alike.

This was a great spot for a bit of lunch, sandcastles and soaking our feet after our 4km walk. We highly recommend Duncannon beach after your Arthurstown to Duncannon walk.

This was a great way to finish off our Wexford adventure. We truly had a great time exploring these little hidden gems in Wexford. Hopefully, we can find some more.

The post Arthurstown to Duncannon Coastal Walk Co Wexford appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

]]>
4686
10 Best Family Walks in Wexford https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/10-best-family-walks-in-wexford/ Sun, 03 Jan 2021 19:56:31 +0000 https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/?p=4274 We have created a list of the 10 best family walks in Wexford. We live on the border of County Wexford and love exploring in the sunny south-east. If we have missed any hikes please let us know as we love exploring new places. Please Check With the Covid guidelines and Restrictions before attempting any [...]

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

]]>
We have created a list of the 10 best family walks in Wexford. We live on the border of County Wexford and love exploring in the sunny south-east. If we have missed any hikes please let us know as we love exploring new places.

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 Our first CHP with Ourlittlehiker in 2017 2019 walk up Mount Leinster with a buggy hiking with kids

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
10 Best Family Walks in Wexford

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
10 Best Family Walks in Wexford 10 Best Family Walks in Wexford

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
10 Best Family Walks in Wexford

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
10 Best Family Walks in Wexford

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 Best Family Walks in Wexford

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
10 Best Family Walks in Wexford

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

]]>
4274
Dunbrody Forest Walk & Lacken Hill New Ross Wexford Walk https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/dunbrody-forest-lacken-hill-new-ross-lacken-hill/ Mon, 09 Dec 2019 20:40:18 +0000 http://www.ourlittlehiker.com/?p=2161 Dunbrody Forest Walk and Lacken Hill Walk We have put our hill walking to one side for another year as we are in the middle of Autumn and the weather is getting colder and the evenings are getting shorter. At this time of year, we are always looking for interesting looped walks, forest trails and [...]

The post Dunbrody Forest Walk & Lacken Hill New Ross Wexford Walk appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

]]>
Dunbrody Forest Walk and Lacken Hill Walk

We have put our hill walking to one side for another year as we are in the middle of Autumn and the weather is getting colder and the evenings are getting shorter. At this time of year, we are always looking for interesting looped walks, forest trails and close walks to home that don’t require too much driving.

We found the Dunbrody forest walk after a bit of Googling ‘Wexford walks’. We previously did a tour of the Dunbrody famine ship so we found it interesting to discover that there was a walk around the woodland that the timber came from to make the ship.

Carpark to start the walk

If you put “Lacken Fairy Woods” into Google maps the Dunbrody Forest carpark will be shown. The carpark for this walk can also be found here.

Key Information about this Wexford Walk

  • It has a fairy village at the start of the trail
  • Great Autumn walk
  • Amazing views on Lacken Hill
  • Young kids love all the hidden fairy doors
  • Fairy doors the whole way to the top of the hill
  • Short walk to Lacken hill & Cross
  • Sign posting to the Cross location could be better
  • One of Wexfords best Autumn walks
  • Hard to find on Google Maps- Click the link to go to Maps.

Starting the Dunbrody forest walk

We parked our car at the gates of the forest which probably has room for about 8 cars. There is a large timber sign at the start of the wood saying “forest of the Dunbrody”. We looked at the information board and decided to do the small loop walk around the wood and then walk up toward the 1798 monument.

Dunbrody Forest Walk Dunbrody Forest Walk sign

As we walked into the forest, the Red arrow pointed right at the Y junction. There is also a sign pointing up the steps toward the 1798 memorial.

We followed the red arrow looped walk through the beech forest. As it is Autumn we were showered in fallen multicolour leaves, Ourlittlehiker was amazed by all the colours. She has become so independent lately and doesn’t want to be in her hiking bag as much anymore. We left her bag in the car for today. She loves hiking and walking and even insisted that we all have hiking sticks from fallen timber.

Dunbrody Forest Walk

At the end of the long straight that cuts through the beech forest, the path started to rise gently and turn back toward the direction that we started from. We walked for about 5 minutes through a pine wood and then started to walk back down toward the beech forest again.

The trail then cuts through another pine tree section that is filled with amazing fairy doors, this was a lovely surprise. We played and knocked many of the doors but all the fairies must have been asleep.

Family fairy walks wexford fairy village in wexford Lacken hill fairy village

From here we walked over a sty and fence and up a lane which then cut back into the woodland. The trail follows the natural lines of the trees and bends and rises around all the mature pines overhead. We eventually come back out onto a larger woodland road similar to the one we were walking on previously. We follow this road uphill until we come to a dead end. A smaller trail cuts off to the right through a freshly planted forest, we follow this for 5 minutes until we reach the monument at the top of the hill.

lackin hill fairy doors lackin hill hike wexford autumn sunset hike

Lacken Hill 1798 Rebel Camp memorial

At the top of the hill, a metal cross and large stone mark the place where many died in the 1798 rebellion. From the top of the hill, there are lovely views of Wexford. We decided to not continue on the Blue loop as the second part of the walk goes onto a road and Ourlittlehiker hasn’t mastered the skills for road walking just yet.

lackin hill cross lackin hill sunset

Map to Lacken Hill

The walk to Lacken Hill is less than 1km. this is a perfect distance for a Sunday stroll with the kids. this is one of our favourite Autumn walks with the Kids, they love it.

Lacken Hill Map

Thoughts on Lacken Hill and Dunbrody forest Walk

It is very obvious that the local community take great pride in this lovely Wexford woodland walk. The Red loop walk is a lovely easy walk for a young family. Most of the walk can be accessed with a buggy with about 100m near the end that would require the buggy to be carried. The wood has loads of fairy doors scattered throughout and the paths are in superb condition.

Overall this is a very easy Sunday stroll that has a nice bit of history scattered through it. We easily explored the whole area with a toddler insisting on walking most of the trail in around 1 hour and loved every second of it.

The post Dunbrody Forest Walk & Lacken Hill New Ross Wexford Walk appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

]]>
2161
Tintern Abbey Hike- Wexford Walks https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/tintern-abbey-hike-wexford/ Thu, 08 Mar 2018 20:34:41 +0000 http://ourlittlehiker.com/?p=143 Tintern Abbey Tintern Abbey is on the Hook peninsula and was built in 1203. The Abbey itself is semi-restored with parts of the building still in ruins but there are still good facilities on-site, such as a coffee shop and toilets. Tintern Abbey is ranked as one of the major tourist attractions in Wexford and it does [...]

The post Tintern Abbey Hike- Wexford Walks appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

]]>
Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey is on the Hook peninsula and was built in 1203. The Abbey itself is semi-restored with parts of the building still in ruins but there are still good facilities on-site, such as a coffee shop and toilets. Tintern Abbey is ranked as one of the major tourist attractions in Wexford and it does not disappoint, the abbey and gardens are a must see when visiting Hook lighthouse as you will essentially drive past the entrance while going to hook lighthouse. The grounds around the Abbey and Tintern Abbey Hikes are free to roam around, to get access to the Abbey itself will cost €5.00. For updates on opening times on the Abbey visit their site here.

When driving into the Abbey you drive down a long private road until you get to the side of the Abbey, the day we were here there was ample parking beside the abbey. We walked down to the side of the Abbey passing the Coffee shop and toilets on our left-hand side until we reached a small bridge and a signpost showing all the walking routes on the grounds.

Tintern Abbey hike

Tintern Abbey Hikes

There are 4 signposted walks available at Tintern Abbey, they are;

  • The Blue arrow walk called the Gardeners trail 0.9km long
  • The Red arrow walk called the Tintern Demesne Trail and is 2.4km long
  • The White arrow walk called the Foxboro Trail and is 3.5km long
  • The Green arrow walk called the Bannow Bay Trail and is 7.5km long

We decided to walk all the trails in Tintern Abbey and as usual, we went for the longest trail to hike first, which was the green signed trail.

Tintern Abbey Hike – Green Signs

The green signed hike is the longest of the Tintern Abbey hikes with a distance of 7.5 km and an expected walking time of 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs. The signpost highlights that the majority of this walk is done on small roads.

Tintern Abbey Hikes

The green walk starts by walking across the small bridge at the signpost and then taking a sharp right into the woodland on a good wide gravel footpath until you reach the Abbeys large bridge that resembles the top of a castle. We walked through the deal park and on to the ‘Brickfield’ this is where the bricks were made to be used in the walled gardens.

Tintern Abbey Hikes

Continue walking straight and follow the river towards Saltmill town, the trial will gradually rise until the small walking trail slowly starts to turn into a small local car access road with a tarmac surface.

Tintern Abbey Hikes

While walking up to the top of the small hill we walk parallel to an estuary and are greeted with views of Saltmills bridge, which made for some nice views with the low winter sun shining through it.

Tintern Abbey Hike

Halfway to Saltmills about 1-2 km into the hike we came across a little pub called “Vine Cottage Bar” we didn’t go in as we felt we just got going and it’s just easier to keep walking instead of taking off the baby rucksack and taking our little hiker out so soon into the hike. We continued walking towards the town and then came to a T junction on a busy road. Be careful on this road as some cars are going extremely quick, so always assume the car has not seen you and stand on the grass verge and let the car pass.

Tintern Abbey Hikes

We now cross Saltmills bridge, the footpath stops before you cross the bridge so if you meet a car you will have to walk on the grass. The bridge is called Tintern bridge and was built in 1817 it provided nice views of the Abbey and the Sea, can you imagine the traffic this bridge has witnessed over the years.

Tintern Abbey Hikes

We continued on the side of the road passing the red galvanized sheds on our right-hand side going toward the next corner, this is possibly the most dangerous section of the walk as there is limited room to stand off the road when cars are coming toward you.

Tintern Abbey Hike

On the walk toward the next corner which is about 150m from Tintern bridge, St Marys ‘first fruit’ Church is on our left after this, we then came to a Y junction and at this junction, we walked down the small little road toward the Sea.

This road is a very small road with a lot less traffic, we did meet cars but they all slowed down to pass us. The road becomes quite muddy and I imagine it is prone to flooding in bad weather but on the day of our hike, it provided a nice level surface to experience the nice trail.

On right 100m down the road, we start walking along Bannow bay which also has a section of a nature reserve. We continue walking and on the left is an old IRA memorial.

This section of the walk meanders around the bay and the road sweeps in and out following the formation of the bay. Most of the road is visible around the bay so it gives you a good idea what is ahead. In the distance, we can see an old dredger boat that seems to have run aground or maybe even misplaced. The dredger is our visual goal for this section and provided some nice backdrop photos.

It was so relaxing walking beside the sea, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks and the odd bird flying overhead. Unfortunately, our little hiker had fallen asleep at this stage of the hike and missed the dredger and the wildlife, she might see it next time.

As we walked this section of the Tintern Abbey hike it provided much-needed family time and we started to talk about our little hiker’s weekly advances in life. So we decided to try every week on our hikes to make a private video while we are out on the hike detailing her weekly changes and new habits. This took many different attempts but we had good fun doing it.

The road turns 90 degrees soon after the boat and the gradient of the road starts to increase slightly, nothing our little hiker’s Mammy cant handle.

The road continues past a couple of farms and rural houses. We are now starting to walk back towards the Abbey and most of the best sights are behind us.

After about 10 minutes on this road, we come to a T junction at a slightly busier road, the signs point toward a corner on our left.

After the initial first corner, the road is reasonably straight with wide grass verges to stand on if cars are coming. There is not much to see in this section of the walk but it’s only about 15 minutes long and there is a nice little hill to take your mind off the lack of views. After the small hill, there is another T junction, this is the main road so take car approaching it. Opposite the main road, there is a gate back to the grounds of Tintern Abbey where you can walk over the wall or climb the gate to get access to the trail.

This section of the walk seems to have received a new layer of gravel lately and is a very nice surface to walk on. The path leads downhill through a wooded area leading past ruins of an old church and graveyard.

We took some time to explore the ruins of the old church and graveyard. We then continued down the hill and started walking back towards the second bridge that we initially crossed at the start of the walk.

We turned right here still following the green arrows, which eventually brought us back to the Abbey just in time to see a dog looking out a window and get some treats in the coffee shop.

Would we recommend Tintern Abbey Hike–Green Signed Walk

The Bannow Bay Green trail gave us a taste of all that Saltmills and Tintern Abbey had to offer. The majority of this trail is walked on roads but this is highlighted on the signpost at the start and they are quite roads, so it is hard to complain about this.

This walk gave us quite country paths, a town stroll which passed nearby pubs,  historical memorials, nature reserves, wrecked ships and churches along with graveyards. There were less entertaining sections of road but every walk has sections like this. Overall we enjoyed the hike but it is probably not buggy or small child-friendly due to the sections of busy road.

Tintern Abbey Hike – White Signs
Tintern Abbey Hike – Red Signs
Tintern Abbey Hike – Blue Signs 0.9km

 

 

The post Tintern Abbey Hike- Wexford Walks appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

]]>
143
Tara Hill Hike https://www.ourlittlehiker.com/tara-hill-hike/ Sat, 13 Jan 2018 20:30:13 +0000 http://ourlittlehiker.com/?p=99 Tara Hill Hike Tara Hill is a hill dominating the landscape over Gorey, Court town and Castletown. Tara hill is only 253m high but as it sits beside the gorgeous Wexford coastline it provides extensive panoramic views of the sea and distant larger mountains. Tara hill village seems like a small Irish village with the usual small Irish town facilities. Tara [...]

The post Tara Hill Hike appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

]]>
Tara Hill Hike

Tara Hill is a hill dominating the landscape over Gorey, Court town and Castletown. Tara hill is only 253m high but as it sits beside the gorgeous Wexford coastline it provides extensive panoramic views of the sea and distant larger mountains. Tara hill village seems like a small Irish village with the usual small Irish town facilities. Tara Hill hike is perfectly situated as it is only a 10-minute drive off the N11 road, which is the main road from Wexford and Dublin. This hike can provide a perfect 45-minute break from the monotony of motorway driving.

Tara Hill looped Hike Start Point

We did the usual thing of just putting’Tara hill’ into google maps to find the location, occasionally, this doesn’t work and it brings us to the wrong location but this time it brought us straight to the starting point of the intended hike. We took exit 22 from the N11 motorway, for Gorey/Inch and drove towards Gorey on the R722 until we got to the road junction L5032 road for Ballymoney or the Seafield hotel. We continued on this road for about 4-5 km and turned left at a Y junction with a sign for Tara hill on a stone. We drove 1 km up the road then took the next left. We continued driving up the hill until we seen the Tara hill lopped walk signs.

There is a small car park at the start of the hike that fitted about 3-4 cars maximum, so try to come early. As we walked, we saw that there was another car park available closer to the village beside the national school. We were lucky and parked the car safely in the one small remaining space at the start of the blue hike.

Wexford hiking looped walks

The sign for the Tara hill hike shows two possible routes, the red lopped walk, and the blue looped walk.

  • The red loop is 5km and goes around the base of the hill.
  • The blue loop is 5.4km goes up the hill and gives amazing views.

When we go hiking we always seem to go instinctively for the longest and highest hike and this hike was no different, we decided to go for the blue looped walk. We started walking from the car park following the signpost going up the small cul-de-sac residential lane. This part of the walk was very quiet, with no traffic to worry about, as we gained elevation we started to get views of the sea and the lovely Wexford coastline.

We walked to the end of the tarmac lane where the blue and red loop split, the blue loop enters the wood and has 4-5 large rocks entering a cleared forestry.

Within 1-2 minutes of walking into the forestry, the trail will gain in elevation quickly. The trail will follow a zig-zag pattern up to the top of the blue looped.

There is a small seating area among a rocky area of the trail that provided us with the best views of the day. When we hiked this walk there was a bad wind chill so we didn’t hang around here too long as it was quite exposed. This seated area would be perfect to relax and take in the amazing Irish landscape, as the views don’t get much better than this.

After this seating area, we continued further up the hill, we came to a T junction but unfortunately, the signpost was knocked down. We stood there and tried to guess which was the right direction but I think we guessed the wrong route. We continued straight ahead until we came to another T junction where we could see windmills in the Sea in the distance. There was another blue arrow pointing us right at this junction, we followed it and started walking downhill again.

This was another nice section of the hike as we were walking towards the sea views, the cold winter wind was behind our backs and the forestry has been replanted with eucalyptus trees. We walked downhill for a couple of kilometers unaware that we had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Halfway through the downhill section, we had a small picnic but as it is winter and VERY cold we just kept walking and eating. Our little hiker LOVES mandarin oranges at the minute so we all had some fruit to keep our energy levels up.

We continued walking downhill until we got to an open yellow metal barrier but there were no more Blue arrows to be seen, only one red arrow pointing into the wood. We walked down to a carpark at the bottom of the lane about 50m away but there were no more blue arrows to be seen here either. We walked back to the Red arrow sign, which cut through the bottom of the wood on a muddy footpath, we followed this sign as we knew it would bring us back to the start.

Tara Hill Hike Wexford

We walked on the muddy path until we came to a farm gate, which also brought us onto a small country lane but thankfully the red arrows were very consistent at this stage of the trail.

Tara Hill Hike Wexford

Like most small hikes in Ireland, there will be a section of road walking and the Tara hill hike was no exception. This section was on a very tight country road with limited stand in sections when cars came, the road was very busy when we were walking it, we probably met 5-6 cars in the 500-600 meters of road.We didn’t mind this too bad as this section of the trail brought us past Tara village Catholic church, which we walked in around to admire the building.

Tara Hill Hike Wexford

We were delighted that the church doors were open as we always love walking into churches for a quick break. The church is called Saint Kevins and was built between 1939-1941. St Kevin’s church is a small church which gives it a very welcoming warm feeling. The Christmas nativity scene was still up when we visited and our daughter seemed very impressed when we gave her a closer look at all the detail. The church had amazing vaulted ceilings with exposed beams and is well worth a visit when hiking this trail.

Tara Hill Hike Wexford

We walked back out of the church and walked towards the junction beside the national school, where we saw another Red sign. We continued past the national school up the hill on a footpath where there was another carpark, which the red loop could be walked from.

Tara Hill Hike Wexford

We continued up the road but the footpath quickly disappeared and we were back to walking on the side of a very small busy country road, this section might not be suitable for a pram. Another Red sign appeared about 1km on this road and we turned onto an even smaller road which was another cul-de-sac and was very quiet.

Tara Hill Hike Wexford

Turn left here onto a cul-de-sac

This small cul-de-sac road starts to rise sharply and follows the edge of the side of the hill contours, the road starts to turn muddy but also becomes very sheltered as the hill is now to our side and it blocks the cold sea air.

This was a very enjoyable section of the walk as it was reasonably flat and it felt like we were walking through the middle of the Wexford countryside, you could nearly imagine these roads were used with horse-drawn carts maybe a century ago.

Tara Hill Hike Wexford

The grassy country lane continued for another couple of kilometers and was slightly overgrown but this added to the character of the hike. The lane then turned back into a tarmac road again which quickly revealed our car around a corner.

Conclusion of our Tara Hill Hike

To be honest, when we set out to do the Tara hill hike we didn’t have high expectations, as we couldn’t find much information online about it. As we got lost it was hard to give an accurate distance but we clocked it at around 7.5km with the mixture of the Blue and Red looped walks, this took us 2 hours to complete but we had a lot of stops and breaks to admire the views when we could.

The hike has amazing views and is nicely challenging without the need to climb a larger mountain. Boots are necessary for winter, I’d imagine you would get away with hiking shoes in summer as there were only a few areas that had mud in the depths of winter. If you are passing Gorey and need a break this hike is a must, and we highly recommend it.

There were only a few problems we found with the hike;

  • Signposting was very poor and sporadic in places
  • Where we parked it was only limited to 3 cars
  • Road walking for a couple of Km’s on very tight roads.

The issues above would not stop me from recommending this hike.

The post Tara Hill Hike appeared first on Our Family Hikes.

]]>
99