Glendalough

A wonderful day in Wicklow National Park

Wicklow National Park is one of the top 20 destinations in Ireland and the Glendalough area comes up many times in All Trails and Google as one of the best areas to hike. I took the White Route which is approximately 9 miles and says it has an elevation gain of 1932 feet, but I think less. This hike includes a mine, waterfalls, bog walking, an old monastery and a round tower. It is also part of the Wicklow Way.

The bog walk was wonderful because there were wooden rails/board walk laid out across the bog to keep feet dry.

There were several waterfalls, but I think the best were as the trail descended and that is what you see on the video.

Also very interesting was the wild life - Wicklow is home to the largest deer population in the state and while hiking I saw some Sika Deer (non-native, originating in Asia). Glendalough means "Valley of two lakes" and is a glacial valley.

The medieval monastic settlement was founded in the 6th century by St. Kevin. It was disestablished in 1398, but you can easily see graves dated back to 1741. From 1825 to 1957 the valley was the site of the Galena Lead Mine. This is the best hike I've done in Ireland so far.