Parking
Start from Upper Lake Car Park; the National Park Information Office is about 200 m away and is the route start.
Overview
About Derrybawn Woodland Trail
Why go
- Woodland route with views over both Glendalough lakes
- Clear orange waymarking and a scenic monastic valley finish
Heads up
- Steep climb at the start
- Much of the loop uses forest road
The best of it is the middle third: high ground looking down the length of the valley with the lakes in sight through the trees. The woodland sections are worth slowing down for, and the finish along the lower Green Road takes you past the lake and the monastic setting.
Parkwolf’s verdictThe payoffMap & elevation
The route
Loading the Wicklow Mountains map
Full mapElevation126–299 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
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 Derrybawn Woodland Trail, 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 trailhead
Glendalough Upper Lake0:00 / 0:49
“You’re coming up on the access to Glendalough’s Upper Lake. If you’d enjoy a quiet detour, look for Reefert Church, tucked into the woods near the lake paths.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Wicklow Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Glendalough Monastic Site and Lower Lake
- Hero Mine
- Wicklow Heather Restaurant
- Brockagh Mountain
- 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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Derrybawn Woodland Trail
The short versionA closed loop of about 8 km starting and finishing at the National Park Information Office near…
A closed loop of about 8 km starting and finishing at the National Park Information Office near the Upper Lake. Allow about 2 hours with ordinary stops, and expect roughly 160 m of climbing, nearly all of it in the first stretch. Follow the orange waymarks.
How it goesFrom the Information Office you start climbing almost immediately, up through woodland near the…
From the Information Office you start climbing almost immediately, up through woodland near the Poulanass waterfall area. That opening pull is the steep part and it comes before you are warmed up. Once you are up, the route settles onto forest road and track that swings around the shoulder of Derrybawn Mountain, through woodland with the Glendalough valley opening up below. The descent brings you down towards the lakes, the monastic settlement and the Laragh side of the valley, and you return on the lower Green Road past the water and the historic monastic area.
DifficultyCall this moderate.
Call this moderate. Most of it is walkable at a steady pace on forest road and track, but the first climb is genuinely steep. Follow the orange waymarks throughout, since other routes leave the same area.
Access and dogsStart at the National Park Information Office near the Upper Lake, grid reference T 111 961.
Start at the National Park Information Office near the Upper Lake, grid reference T 111 961. The Upper Lake Car Park is the practical place to leave a car, roughly 200 m from the office. Dogs are welcome in the national park but must be on a lead at all times, with no exceptions.
Honest drawbacksThe opening climb is front-loaded and unpleasant if you turn up cold or in a hurry.
- The opening climb is front-loaded and unpleasant if you turn up cold or in a hurry.
- A good share of the loop is on forest road, which is efficient but visually monotonous compared with the high section.
- Tree cover means views come and go rather than staying open, so the valley reveals itself in glimpses.
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.
