Best time to go
- Early morning or midweek is noticeably quieter.
- Overcast light is kind to photographs in a close wooded setting.
Overview
About Coolalingo Waterfalls
Why stop
- Multiple mossy cascades in a quiet woodland pocket
Heads up
- Small falls with a rough, unsigned approach
Map
Where it is
Loading the Wicklow Mountains map
Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Best time to go
Getting there on foot
3 active Wicklow Mountains alerts
- CautionExtreme upland fire riskDo not use solid-fuel BBQs in Wicklow Mountains National Park, and take extreme care with cigarettes and other naked flames because the hills are dry and at extreme risk of fire.Official details
- CautionGlendalough Spinc trail works and intermittent disruptionsExpect intermittent disruption on the Glendalough Spinc trails while NPWS upgrades the White Trail.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Wicklow Mountains Tour Guide
Your drive to Coolalingo Waterfalls, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Wicklow Mountains 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.
More stories near here in the app
- The Walker Who Mapped a Way
- The Yellow Jersey at Shay Elliott Pass
- Glendalough Upper Lake
- The Next Oakwood
- 55 audio storiesacross Wicklow Mountains’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Sika Deer, Red Deer, Grey Heron, and 3 more
- Works offlinemaps, 34 trails, 31 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!!!!”
Guide
More about Coolalingo Waterfalls
What it isA small, peaceful set of waterfalls on a fast-flowing stream in a wooded valley.
A small, peaceful set of waterfalls on a fast-flowing stream in a wooded valley. Multiple cascades run along a short stretch of water, with natural pools below the falls and trees close in on both sides. It suits a quiet half hour beside moving water rather than a long walk.
The visit itselfSeveral drops instead of one, picked up one after another as you move upstream.
- Several drops instead of one, picked up one after another as you move upstream.
- Pools sitting under the cascades, with the stream running between them.
- A tight woodland setting that feels more tucked away than the short distance from the road suggests.
- Expect roughly 0.3 miles with about 68 feet of gain, or about 1 km down and 1 km back on the longer line, and half an hour to an hour on the ground.
Ground and waterThe approach is rough, uneven, muddy, steep in places and slippery.
- The approach is rough, uneven, muddy, steep in places and slippery.
- There are no lifeguards and no approved safe swimming spots anywhere in the park, so treat the pools as something to look at.
What to bringSturdy boots or grippy footwear suited to muddy, uneven ground.
- Sturdy boots or grippy footwear suited to muddy, uneven ground.
- A map, rain layers and the usual essentials, plus a look at the weather before you set out.
- Keep dogs on leads, stay on durable ground where you can, and take all litter home. Litter does turn up here from time to time.
Honest drawbacksThe falls are modest in scale, parking is very limited, and the absence of signs or a real path…
The falls are modest in scale, parking is very limited, and the absence of signs or a real path means the water can be hard to locate. Come prepared to work out the line yourself, and the reward is a quiet spot among the trees.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Wicklow Mountains
204 sightingsSika DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
18 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
15 sightingsGrey HeronMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
11 sightingsCommon RavenMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
28 sightingsEuropean Common FrogMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
11 sightingsViviparous LizardMost seen around 11 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Wicklow Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
