Spinc Trail (Short Route)

From the Upper Lake Car Park the blue arrows climb steeply beside Poulanass Waterfall and turn into the Lugduff Valley, rising through a native woodland exclosure and a set of switchbacks. The gradient eases once you reach the Spinc cliff path, where roughly 1 km of timber boardwalk carries you along the rim with open views down onto Upper Lake and back into the Glenealo Valley. The loop then leaves the Spinc and drops through forest, returning toward the Information Office and the car park where you began.

The distance is short, but the grade is strenuous and honest. The first section is a sustained stepped and rocky ascent that gains most of the day's height quickly, so pace yourself and expect to stop. Higher up you swap that for boardwalk, then forest tracks and paths on the descent. The mix of stepped rock, timber and forest surfaces deserves care in wet weather, and the boardwalk runs close to cliff edges, so stay on the constructed path and keep children and anyone unsteady well back from the drop.

Drive to the signed Upper Lake Car Park at Glendalough and start the blue-arrow loop there; other pins for the trail are not the parking area. Dogs are welcome but must be kept on a lead at all times. The cliffs are genuinely dangerous, and visitors are asked not to disturb cliff plants or nesting birds, including peregrines and ravens, with particular care during the peregrine nesting season.

Spinc and Glenealo Valley, the white route, shares this approach and ridge before continuing farther into the Glenealo Valley. Choose that one if you have more time and want to extend the high ground beyond the boardwalk.