Glanteenassig Forest Park
More than four hundred and fifty hectares of woodland, mountain, lake and peatland filling a sheltered glacial valley in the Slieve Mish mountains behind the village. Two lakes sit on the valley floor, Lough Slat lower and smaller and Lough Caum above it, with the Owencashla River running out through the entrance, and streams, waterfalls and steep rock above. Locally it is known for its Valley of the Waterfalls, which is at its best after rain.
The planting is mainly Sitka spruce and lodgepole pine with pockets of silver fir, larch and beech and native birch and alder, and the ground opens out to bog and open mountain at the head of the valley. There are views out to Brandon, Tralee Bay and the Maharees.
What you actually find is a forest road running up the valley past a sequence of small car parks, picnic tables at the lakes, and a short set of waymarked walks rather than a large trail network. The headline walk is a boardwalk circuit of the upper lake. There is nothing else: no shop, no café, no services of any kind.
The facts
- Admission
- Free, and no parking charge
- Where
- Off the N86 at Aughacasla, 9km from Castlegregory
- Hours
- 8am to 10pm in summer, 8am to 6pm in winter. The gates are closed at night.
- River Trail
- 1.1km, 30 minutes, easy
- Lough Slat
- 0.3km, 5 minutes, graded access for all
- Lough Caum Loop
- 2km, 1 hour, moderate
- Website
- Coillte
Good to know
You can drive up the valley rather than walk it: there is around eight kilometres of forest road open to cars and bicycles. The upper section is single lane and reported as tricky, and the highest car park holds only about ten cars, so on a fine day arrive early or park lower down and walk.
The approach road from Aughacasla is narrow, loose-surfaced and has sheep on it. Allow far longer than nine kilometres suggests, and the turn is easy to miss.
The Lough Caum boardwalk is narrow raised timber with steps and a shallow stream crossing, and it is slippery after rain. It is not suitable for a pram. Only the short Lough Slat trail is graded for all.
There are no toilets that any source confirms. Bring water and food, take litter home, and do not camp. Coillte has closed the site for forestry work before now, so check its page before you drive out.
How we checked. Trail grades, distances and hours from Coillte's own site page. Distance from Castlegregory is Coillte's figure of 9km; local sources give 8.5km and 6km, so treat all three loosely. Opening hours and prices on this coast change without notice, so ring before you travel. If anything here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.