Walks and hikes on the Dingle Peninsula

Mount Brandon

At 952 metres Brandon is the highest Irish peak outside the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, and the classic route starts near Cloghane on our side of the mountain: the Faha route, marked from the grotto above the village, climbing past the paternoster lakes into a glacial coum before the final pull to the summit ridge. It is a proper mountain day, four to six hours round trip, and the weather changes fast; save it for a clear forecast and it will be the walk you talk about for years.

Loch a’Duin and the Conor Pass

From the roadside at the Kerry side of the Conor Pass a short scramble brings you to Pedlar’s Lake, a corrie lake in the cliffs. Below it the Loch a’Duin valley runs quiet and wild, with prehistoric field walls and standing stones scattered along the stream. You can be back at the car in an hour, or lose an afternoon in it.

Glanteenassig Forest Park

Ten minutes above Castlegregory, Glanteenassig is a forested glen with two lakes, a boardwalk over the bog and gravel loops that work in any weather, the reliable choice for a soft day or for small legs that will not manage a mountain.

The Dingle Way and the beaches

The Dingle Way long-distance trail passes right through Camp, Castlegregory and Cloghane, so you can walk a stage of it from the front door of most of our homes. And the simplest walk here is still one of the best: the sand at Brandon Bay and Fermoyle runs unbroken for miles, and outside July and August you will often have it to yourself.