Parking
Start at Tomies Wood car park. It has about 28 spaces and can fill quickly on fine weekends.
Overview
About O’Sullivan’s Cascade Trail
Why go
- A short woodland route to a multi-step waterfall.
- Local folklore gives the falls a memorable story.
Heads up
- The final descent is about 130 steps and can be slippery after rain.
- Current access status needs checking before the drive.
Map & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Killarney Tour Guide
Your drive to O’Sullivan’s Cascade Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Killarney National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Tomies Wood and O'Sullivan's Cascade0:00 / 0:25
“You're approaching Tomies Wood, where a woodland walk leads to O'Sullivan's Cascade.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Killarney Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Ross Island Copper Mines
- Ross Castle and Innisfallen
- Knockreer and Deenagh Lodge
- Five Mile Bridge and Eagles’ Nest
- 18 audio storiesacross Killarney’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Red Deer, Sika Deer, Feral Goat, and 11 more
- Works offlinemaps, 29 trails, 32 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking O’Sullivan’s Cascade Trail
The short way to the fallsO’Sullivan’s Cascade Trail is a woodland out-and-back from Tomies Wood car park to a multi-step…
O’Sullivan’s Cascade Trail is a woodland out-and-back from Tomies Wood car park to a multi-step waterfall. Published estimates range from 3 to 3.8 km round trip; budget for the longer figure and about 1–1.5 hours if you want time at the falls. The upper/right path at the early fork belongs to the separate Tomies Wood loop.
Take the lower/left branch at the first fork. After roughly 1.2 km, turn left again at the cascade sign and follow the spur to the waterfall, then return the same way. Current public access to Tomies Wood could not be confirmed, so check before setting out.
The last stepsThe waterfall spur drops down about 130 steps.
The waterfall spur drops down about 130 steps. They can be slippery after rain, and the short distance understates the effort if steep stairs are hard for you. The lower route stays beneath the trees; the open lake and mountain views belong to the longer upper loop.
A waterfall in the woodsThe cascade spills over several dark, mossy rock shelves in close woodland.
The cascade spills over several dark, mossy rock shelves in close woodland. Oak and holly grow among the conifers. It’s a good phone-photo stop: keep the tiers in frame and include some of the leafy path and overhanging branches to show how tucked into the wood the falls are.
The whiskey-spring storyLocal legend says Fionn MacCumhaill kept a whiskey spring at the cascade, and that O’Sullivan…
Local legend says Fionn MacCumhaill kept a whiskey spring at the cascade, and that O’Sullivan of Tomies was the one man brave enough to challenge him. In the story, the whiskey turned to water after the English invasion. It’s folklore, but it gives the waterfall a memorable tale to go with the walk.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Killarney
106 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
209 sightingsSika DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsFeral GoatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
49 sightingsSwanMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
48 sightingsHeronMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
16 sightingsCormorantMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Killarney. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
