Glendalough Lower Lake

Overview

About Glendalough Lower Lake

Why stop

Wetland boardwalk and oak woodland make the lake feel alive
Easy valley views with the monastic site nearby

Heads up

Crowded and congested on sunny weekends
A modest stop unless paired with the wider valley

Most people march straight past the Lower Lake on their way to the big cliff-backed views at the Upper Lake, which is exactly why this end of the valley is worth ten slow minutes. It is smaller, shallower and marshier, with beds of reeds along the shore, oak woodland climbing the slopes and the hills of the valley closing in beyond the water. From the boardwalk you get a long view up the valley that you cannot get from the Upper Lake shore, where you are already inside the mountains rather than looking into them. The monastic city with its round tower is a separate stop a short walk away; this is pure landscape, no monuments, and it pairs well with the ruins rather than competing with them.

Parkwolf’s verdictWhy stop here

Map

Where it is

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SightGlendalough Lower Lake53.00880, -6.33385

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Plan your stop

Before you go

Best time to go

Go early. First light on a still morning can leave mist sitting on the water and the reeds, and you may have the boardwalk more or less to yourself. Glendalough is the busiest place in the park, and a sunny weekend afternoon means slow traffic, full car parks and a steady file of people on the trail, so a weekday or an early start changes the experience completely. On the wooden trackway keep an eye out for dragonflies over the wetland and lizards basking on the boards in warm weather, and for red squirrels and woodland birds in the oaks nearby, though none of that is guaranteed on any given day. The other fair warning: taken on its own the Lower Lake is a modest sight, and it makes far more sense as one part of a broader valley visit that takes in the woods, the monastic city and the Upper Lake.

Getting there on foot

The honest truth is that this is a walking destination, not a drive-up viewpoint. The nicest approach is the Green Road Walk, roughly 3 km and about 45 minutes, easy going with only about 20 m of climb on a mix of track and boardwalk. It starts near the National Park Information Office, runs through the oak woods, drops to the wetland edge of the Lower Lake and carries on toward the Upper Lake, so you can treat it as a there-and-back or as the spine of a longer valley loop. From the Visitor Centre at the monastic site to the Upper Lake is about 20 minutes either by the Green Road or the Lower Lake boardwalk, which makes the Lower Lake a natural pause rather than a detour.

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

See all 3 alerts

A park ranger sits on a dash-mounted phone, talking, as Parkwolf’s Tour Guide plays “Army Cutworm Moths: A Grizzly Bear Buffet” on Grand Loop Road below Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone — Parkwolf Tour GuideThe highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.

Wicklow Mountains Tour Guide

Your drive to Glendalough Lower Lake, 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.

Recorded for this place

Glendalough Monastic Site and Lower Lake

0:00 / 0:53

“You’re approaching Glendalough’s monastic site, near the Lower Lake. For a quieter corner with beautiful stone carving, seek out Saint Saviour’s Priory, east of the main ruins.”

Plays as you drive up to Glendalough Lower Lake in the Parkwolf Wicklow Mountains Tour Guide.

More about Glendalough Lower Lake

PracticalitiesParking: three public car parks serve the valley, one beside the Visitor Centre at the monastic…

Parking: three public car parks serve the valley, one beside the Visitor Centre at the monastic city, one at the Upper Lake at the end of the valley road, and one in Laragh. Paid parking exists at the main visitor car parks; from Laragh you are looking at a 3 km woodland walk in along the Green Road. Barriers at the car parks can be down very early or very late even though the valley itself is open around the clock.
No toilets at the lake. The public toilets are back at the Visitor Centre and the Upper Lake car park, and they keep shorter hours in winter. Plan accordingly before you set off along the boardwalk.
Dogs are welcome but must be on a lead at all times, since the whole valley is a wildlife conservation area.
No boats. The lakes are a nature reserve, so boating, canoeing and kayaking are not permitted. Come for looking and walking, not for water sport.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Wicklow Mountains

All Wicklow Mountains wildlife maps

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 map

Sighting maps show where each species has been reported across Wicklow Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.