walks around west cork bantry skibbereen

Leave the village by the Kenmare road passing the Roman Catholic church you will come to a wooden entrance on your left with a Gate Lodge. Passing through this entrance you will soon reach a picnic area with very many walks leading from it.
Continue along this gravel road and it joins a tar road leading in to the Glen. Follow this to your left and you will pass through the whole forest area of new and mature woodland.

Past this spot you then travel on towards Barley Lake which...

Lis Ard Garden cover a huge area of 200 acres devoted to Irish Nature. The Garden have woodlands, waterfalls, medows and lakes. All of these aspects give visitors a truely enjoyable experience of tranquility and calmness. The Huge, ancient trees of 150 years old, surround you like the walls of a catherdral. The whole gardens leaves Man in the centre of nature.
Here the stage is set for fascinating light shows in an atmosphere of heavenly silience. This can be...

The Beara Way, incorporating part of the O'Sullivan Beara Way, is a long distance walking route around the highly spectacular peninsula with a large concentration of historical and archaeological sites en route.
The main towns on the route are Kenmare, Glengarriff and Castletownbere (a commercial fishing port and an excellent centre for exploring the peninsula).

There are a number of colourful villages in between: Allihies, Ardgroom, Adrigole and Eyeries. Bere and Dursey, t...

This woodland area lies on the Owanabue River. The area is noted for its fine coastal views and forest walks....

The Sheep's Head Way encompasses the Sheep's Head peninsula and the greater Bantry area in West Cork. Starting in the Square, Bantry, it goes out west on the northern (Bantry Bay) side of the peninsula, all the way to Sheep's Head, and then back east to Bantry on the southern side (Dunmanus Bay) of the peninsula via Kilcrohane, Ahakista and Durrus.
During most of the Sheep's Head Way the walker will have spectacular views of Bantry and Dunmanus Bays; sometimes both at the same time.

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Experience otters, badgers, foxes and minks in their natural enviroment. The lakeside with its own unique vegetation has been declared a natural reserve.
It is now the home of innumerable common and rare water birds....

This walk can be done clockwise or anti-clockwise, but, clockwise is recommended as being the less steep ascent and more pleasant scenically. The entrance to the walk is at an iron gate on the right of the Kenmare road, approximately 1-1/2 miles from Glengarriff village.
Passing through the gate you walk on a roughish path ascending steadily around bends to another gate at the summit. Just beyone this point magnificent views of the harbour area and Garnish Island can be photographed....

This walk actually starts about 3 miles from Glengarriff village at a place known as Crois na Bothar. Leaving the village and passing such easily recognizable landmarks as the Golf Course, entrance gates to Glengarriff Castle and Derrycreha National School, you reach a lone house at a point hwere the main road is intersected by a by-road going left and right.
Proceed on the left hand one and you will travel in an easterly direction towards Coomhola. Less than a mile along here the road le...

Walking out of the village along the Castletownbere road, with the river to your right for a short distance, you come to a sharp left bend. At this point a narrow road joins to the right, heading backwards. It seems. Follow this side road which is a slight incline for about 3/4 mile through mixed terrain of rock and hedgerow and you will come to the entrance to Lady Bantrys Lookout.

Descending the steps you will notice at the bottom a path directly leading downwards. Leaving the...

These walks are in an area of Glengarriff, rarely visited by foot and as such are well worth viewing.
Follow the Bantry road for a distance of approximately 2 miles passing the Golf Course, to what is known locally as the Doctors Cross. Here the tar road veers downwards and off to the right. About 100 years on this road another road leads off at right angles.

This is O Learys Point and from here charming views of the inner harbour framed by tall pine trees can be glimpsed. Ret...