Parking
Use Cloon Oak Glen Car Park on the Enniskerry to Glencree road. The community walk map places it about 4 km from Glencree on the right when driving from Enniskerry; Cloon is about 6.5 km west of Enniskerry.
Overview
About Oak Glen Loop Trail
We store 4.4 km because that is the rounded length of a verified, connected mapped line measuring 4.428 km, counting the shared access section on both the outward and return legs. An older community map for the property quotes 3.5 km and one hour, an exact named GPS record of the same walk came in at 4.41 km with roughly 374 ft of climb and an easy rating, and recent local write-ups land around 4.5 to 4.7 km. Those all describe the same walk at slightly different levels of detail, and the mapped line is the convention used here.
Why go
- oak woodland
- quiet riverside section
- mountain views
Heads up
- shared forest-road access
- stiles and uneven riverside footing
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Wicklow Mountains map
Full mapElevation141–257 m
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
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 Oak Glen Loop 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
Cloon Oak Glen0:00 / 0:20
“The access to Cloon Oak Glen is ahead, with a woodland loop beside the Glencree River. The quiet riverside stretch is the part I’d make time for, beneath the oak trees.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Wicklow Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Bird Beneath the River
- Glencree's Refuge for Children
- The Boys at Glencree
- Crone Woods and Ride Rock
- 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 Oak Glen Loop Trail
The short versionThis is a 4.
This is a 4.4 km closed loop in the Cloon forest property, with the access section from the car park walked twice, out at the start and back at the end. Allow about 1 hour 15 minutes at an ordinary pace. It is easy overall, but two stiles and a narrow, uneven riverside stretch mean it is not a smooth buggy or wheelchair route.
How the route runsStart at Cloon Oak Glen Car Park on the Enniskerry to Glencree road.
- Start at Cloon Oak Glen Car Park on the Enniskerry to Glencree road.
- Descend gently by forest road to the signed Oak Glen.
- Cross two stiles over or beside the deer fence.
- Follow the narrow waymarked track beside the Glencree River.
- Loop back through the woodland.
- Return uphill on the forest road and the same access track to the car park.
Effort and footingThe climbing is modest and comes mostly on the return, so the walk finishes with a steady…
The climbing is modest and comes mostly on the return, so the walk finishes with a steady uphill on good forest road. The riverside section is the one to take slowly: it is narrow, uneven underfoot, and holds water after rain, so boots or grippy shoes beat trainers. The stiles are straightforward for most people but awkward with small children, big dogs, or dodgy knees.
Scenery and photographyCloon is planted broadleaf woodland with oak as the defining species, plus birch and Japanese…
Cloon is planted broadleaf woodland with oak as the defining species, plus birch and Japanese larch. From the forest road you get open views down Glencree and out to the surrounding mountains, which is where the wider shots are. The river section is the quietest and most natural-feeling part of the loop, better for close, shaded detail than for big landscapes. Watch for commemorative stones and old farm outbuildings along the way.
Drawbacks and a nearby alternativeYou repeat the forest road on the way back, the stiles interrupt the flow, and the uneven…
You repeat the forest road on the way back, the stiles interrupt the flow, and the uneven riverside footing rules out wheels. If you want a longer walk with broader upland views, the Curtlestown section of the Wicklow Way nearby is the better pick, though it is a separate route rather than an extension of this loop.
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.
