Walking Trails Ireland – Waymarked Ways and Looped Walks

Walking trails Ireland encompasses a vast network of over 920 registered trails, 43 national waymarked ways and thousands of kilometres of looped walks, mountain paths and heritage routes spread across every county. Walking is Ireland’s most popular outdoor activity, generating an estimated €184-233 million in trail-related spending and attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. This guide covers the trail network, key long-distance routes, mountain walking, trail standards and the bodies responsible for developing and maintaining Ireland’s walking infrastructure.

🥾 The Scale of the Trail Network

Ireland’s walking trail network has grown substantially over the past four decades. The National Trails Register, maintained by Sport Ireland Outdoors, now records over 920 trails across the Republic of Ireland. These range from short looped walks of under 5km to long-distance waymarked ways stretching over 200km. There are also over 4,000km of waymarked trails in the Republic alone, all identified by the distinctive square black posts featuring a yellow walking man symbol.

The network is built on a combination of public land, state forestry and private farmland accessed through permissive agreements. Coillte, the state-owned forestry company, is the single largest provider of walking trail infrastructure in Ireland. The company manages 260 recreation sites, twelve forest parks and over 3,000km of marked walking trails on its 440,000-hectare estate. Coillte provides and maintains 52% of all off-road walking trails and 24% of the total developed walking trail network in the country. Over three million people visited Coillte’s top 50 recreational sites in 2024, a 10% increase on the previous year.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) manages trails within Ireland’s six national parks and numerous nature reserves, while local authorities maintain trails in their administrative areas. Community and voluntary groups also play a significant role, developing and maintaining trails through programmes like the Walks Scheme, which pays landowners to maintain trail infrastructure on their property.

🗺️ Long-Distance Waymarked Ways

Ireland’s 43 national waymarked ways form the backbone of the trail network. Each is a designated long-distance route maintained to national standards and marked with the official yellow walking man waymarkers. The oldest is the Wicklow Way, which opened in 1980 and stretches approximately 127km from Marlay Park in south Dublin through the Wicklow Mountains to Clonegal in County Carlow. It was inspired by a series of newspaper articles written by J. B. Malone for the Evening Herald in 1966 and remains one of the most popular trails in the country.

The Kerry Way is the longest waymarked trail in Ireland at approximately 215km, circling the Iveragh Peninsula through some of the most dramatic mountain and coastal scenery in the country. It passes through Killarney National Park, crosses the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks range and follows the coast through Caherciveen, Waterville and Sneem before returning to Killarney. The trail typically takes nine to ten days to complete and is one of the most internationally recognised walking routes in Ireland.

Other notable long-distance routes include the Dingle Way (179km around the Dingle Peninsula), the Beara Way (196km around the Beara Peninsula), the Sheep’s Head Way (88km, one of the most consistently praised trails for quality), the Western Way (spanning counties Galway and Mayo), the Burren Way through the unique limestone landscape of County Clare, and the Ballyhoura Way in counties Cork and Limerick. Each waymarked way has its own character, reflecting the diverse landscapes of the regions they traverse.

Several of Ireland’s waymarked ways form part of larger transnational route networks. The European walking route E8 passes through Ireland, and the Beara-Breifne Way traces the historical march of the O’Sullivan Beara clan from the Beara Peninsula to Leitrim. The International Appalachian Trail, which links geological features on both sides of the Atlantic, also incorporates Irish trail sections.

⛰️ Mountain Walking in Ireland

Ireland’s mountains, while modest in height by international standards, offer challenging and rewarding walking terrain. Carrauntoohil in the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, County Kerry, is the highest peak at 1,039 metres and attracts thousands of walkers each year. The Reeks ridge traverse is considered one of the finest mountain walks in the country, though it requires experience and good conditions.

Croagh Patrick in County Mayo (764m) is one of Ireland’s most climbed mountains, with an estimated 100,000 people ascending annually – including thousands on the traditional Reek Sunday pilgrimage in late July. The mountain has experienced significant erosion from heavy foot traffic, prompting a major path restoration programme. Brandon Mountain on the Dingle Peninsula (952m) offers some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in Ireland, while the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland and the mountains of Wicklow, Donegal and Galway provide a wide range of walking experiences.

Upland erosion has become a growing concern at popular mountain sites. The development of boardwalk paths – known as tochars – has been one response. The Cuilcagh Boardwalk Trail in Cavan, popularly known as the Stairway to Heaven, was built to protect delicate blanket bog from walker damage. Its opening in 2015 increased annual visitors to Cuilcagh Mountain from roughly 3,000 to over 60,000, demonstrating both the demand for mountain access and the infrastructure challenges it creates. Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park features a similar boardwalk and stone path system.

Pilgrim Paths and Heritage Routes

Ireland has a rich tradition of pilgrim walking that predates modern trail development by centuries. The Pilgrim Paths Project, established by the Heritage Council as its Millennium Project in 1997, developed a series of walking routes based on medieval pilgrimage paths. Today, Pilgrim Paths of Ireland (PPI) represents 12 community groups supporting routes that combine spiritual heritage with outdoor recreation. These include paths to Croagh Patrick, Station Island on Lough Derg, Glendalough in Wicklow and several lesser-known medieval pilgrimage routes. The paths total approximately 124km of major penitential trails and are growing in popularity as part of the global walking pilgrimage revival inspired by the Camino de Santiago.

🔄 Looped Walks and Community Trails

While long-distance waymarked ways attract dedicated walkers and tourists, the majority of trail usage in Ireland takes place on shorter looped walks. These circular routes, typically between 3km and 15km, are maintained by local authorities, Coillte, community groups and the NPWS. They form the everyday walking infrastructure used by local residents for exercise, recreation and mental wellbeing.

The Sli na Slainte (Path to Health) initiative, developed by the Irish Heart Foundation, created waymarked walking routes in communities across Ireland to encourage physical activity. These routes are typically short, accessible and located in or near towns and villages, making them available to people of all fitness levels.

The Walks Scheme, administered by the Department of Rural and Community Development, is the principal mechanism for maintaining trails that cross private land. The scheme pays participating landowners to maintain trail infrastructure on their property, providing an economic incentive for farmers to facilitate public access. In February 2024, Minister Heather Humphreys announced that 62 new walking trails had been approved in principle to join the scheme, part of a target under the National Outdoor Recreation Strategy to expand the Walks Scheme to 150 trails by end 2024. An additional call for expressions of interest was opened in 2024, with successful applications to be announced in early 2025.

📋 Trail Standards and Accreditation

Sport Ireland Outdoors is the national body responsible for trail development standards, registration and inspection. All trails seeking inclusion on the National Trails Register must be inspected against defined criteria covering route quality, waymarking, safety, accessibility and environmental impact. The trail grading system categorises walks by difficulty, from easy strolls suitable for families to challenging mountain routes requiring navigation skills and appropriate equipment.

The National Trails Office, working within Sport Ireland, coordinates trail development nationally and provides guidance to local authorities, community groups and other trail developers. The office has developed detailed standards for trail construction, maintenance and waymarking that align with international best practice. Leave No Trace Ireland works alongside these bodies to promote responsible outdoor recreation, educating walkers and other trail users about minimising their environmental impact.

Despite improvements, a 2006 National Trails Strategy by the Irish Sports Council noted that Irish trails fell well behind international standards, with land access identified as the single most important issue. A subsequent 2010 review recommended upgrading five premier routes – the Beara, Dingle, Kerry, Sheep’s Head and Wicklow Ways – to a new National Long Distance Trail standard intended to meet international quality benchmarks. Progress has been made, but access to private land remains the most fundamental constraint on trail development in Ireland.

Unlike Scotland, Sweden and the Nordic countries, Ireland has no statutory right to roam across private land. All walking access on private property is permissive – granted by the landowner and revocable at any time. The Occupiers’ Liability Act of 1995 (amended in 2023) was introduced partly to address landowner concerns about liability for recreational users on their land, but the lack of a legal framework for countryside access continues to limit trail development and creates uncertainty for walkers and landowners alike.

🏃 Get Ireland Walking and Community Participation

The Get Ireland Walking initiative supports the development of community walking groups and promotes walking as an everyday activity accessible to everyone. The programme works with local sports partnerships, community organisations and health services to establish and sustain walking groups, particularly targeting older adults, people with disabilities and communities with low physical activity levels. Mountaineering Ireland provides support for hillwalking clubs, while parkrun events – held weekly in locations across the country – have introduced thousands of people to regular walking and running in their local communities.

🏥 Walking, Health and Accessibility

Walking is Ireland’s most participated-in physical activity, and the trail network plays a direct role in public health outcomes. The connection between walking, mental health and physical wellbeing is increasingly recognised in government policy, with programmes like the Green Social Prescribing initiative linking healthcare referrals to outdoor activity opportunities.

Accessibility is a growing priority in trail design. Newer trails increasingly incorporate universal design principles, including wheelchair-accessible boardwalks, gentle gradients, firm surface finishes and rest areas. However, the majority of the existing trail network was built without accessibility as a primary consideration, and retrofitting older trails to modern accessibility standards is costly and complex.

The trail network connects directly with Ireland’s wider outdoor recreation infrastructure. Many waymarked ways intersect with or feed into greenway routes, blueway trails and national park walking networks. The Wild Atlantic Way region contains many of Ireland’s most popular walking trails, and the combination of a branded touring route with established trail networks creates a compelling proposition for walking tourism visitors.