The little Sugar loaf

The little Sugar loaf is situated between the village of Kilmacanougue and the seaside town of Bray in Co. Wicklow. The little Sugar loaf has a summit height of 342m and sits in the shadow of its big brother the great Sugar loaf (501m).

The Little Sugar loaf Key Key Facts

• Parking- On the side of the road 3-4 cars max
• Signposted- Halfway only
• Duration- 40 minutes – 1 hour
• Length- 2.5km
• Rating- 6 out of 10 (Great views)

Where to start the little sugar loaf hike

Exit the N11 for the village of Kilmacanogue. The start point to hike the little Sugar loaf starts on Bohilla lane, 1.1KM from the N11 roundabout.

Hiking the Little Sugar loaf Wicklow

The hike starts beside Bohilla Lane. There is a small notice board at the start of the trail. The initial start of the hike looks like a small footpath through grass/ferns.

The little Sugar loaf car park

There is only enough car parking at this hike for 3-4 cars on the side of the road. Be sure to come early as the lack of car parking space doesn’t give many options for optional parking when all the spaces are gone.

Follow the Little Sugar loaf signs

Starting off, the path follows a fence but the paths sweeps away from the fence toward the base of the little sugarloaf. The footpath turns very rocky when it gets closer to the base. Hiking boots with ankle support would be recommended here.

At the base of the hill, we are greeted at a crossing on the path, this is approx 500m from the start point. The agreed path verges right but the path will loop back to the point later.

We follow the agreed path to the right and climb a steep rocky section. The path is not very clear but it is a fun scramble up to the top of the first peak.

After a bit of scrambling over the rocky area, we reach the top of the first small peak. From here we can see Bray head and the seafront from Greystones to Dublin. We followed the trail to the middle peak which is actually the little sugarloaf peak. Halfway along the peaks, there is a path to the left that leads back down to the main path if you want to cut the hike short or want to walk on better ground conditions.

We continue walking until we reach the last peak and follow the path back down. The path is slippy here and caution is required. We walk down to the wall at the bottom and reach the main path again.

We follow the path back to the left in the direction of where we started. The path back down is a gently sloping gradient that leads back to the original junction near the base of the hill.

There is an option of a looped walk down to Bray head if time permits.

Map of the Little Sugar Loaf looped walk

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The little Sugar loaf rating

This is a really fun hike, that gives instant views of the Sea and mountains on Wicklow’s beautiful coastline. This is a great hike for young families with a minimum age of 5. A great starter hike for kids and it’s nice and quite.