Dursey Island Loop

The drive from Killarney took us around 2 hours so, although we had started very early, when we arrived to the cable car station there was already a rather long line. We had to wait almost an hour before we could board, had a snack at the food truck and used the restrooms having been advised there weren't any on the island. The ride itself took less than 10 minutes. We hiked clockwise the entire island loop partly on roads and partly on well marked but mostly wet trails up and down hill. It took us a bit more than 4 hours to return to the cable car departure site having stopped only 15 minutes for a quick sandwich lunch. We saw many sheep and a few birds. Unfortunately there was an even longer line and had to wait another good hour before we could board back. We were lucky we had manageable weather for the most part but can imagine it must be really harsh under other conditions given the total exposure to the elements. Overall a very nice walk in an almost inhabited land.

Superb walking on a sunny day but you'll be exposed to the wind and rain if it isn't.

The cable car ride is a great start and the opening hours can be found online. When we went last weekend it was working all day.

We went clockwise and westward along the islands only road and took the spur to the head, well worthwhile with a chance of spotting whales or basking sharks.

There are fantastic views from the high ground and the way back runs along the spine past the 252m signal tower and over the close cropped grass, heather and dwarf gorse.

A lot of migratory and other birds visit here undisturbed by much. There are sheep on the commonage and cows in the fields and a resident population of 2.

If you go you may well dream of increasing that number. It's special.

More details and photos are on my blog; stevebarhamramblingman.wordpress.com

Did Dursey loop last week and it was so very beautiful...breathtaking scenery..a nice mix of ascents and flat walking. I picked up a book randomly in Kenmare as I knew I couldn't depend on phone power/net and I was blessed to have picked Adrian Hendroff's book on the Beara and it was just perfect - described each route pitch perfectly and identified other national trail routes I wasn't aware of or may not have found or been motivated to do only for it. I loved the Dursey route, it was well maintained, easy to navigate and there weren't too many people which was great. Going to Dursey Head is cited as optional but I would advise to go for it....lovely spot to sit a while. I must stress that it is important to get there early as cable car capacity is just 6 for each time. They open at 9.30am then close at 11am to 2.30pm. There are evening times but I am unsure of them right now...my sole advice would be get there early:)

Hi Doug from the National Trails Office here. We have a problem with the links to one of our partner websites at the moment and we are working with them to try and resolve this. Check back here soon and it should be sorted.

Very beautiful landscape! the weather on 1/3/2013 was not the best and the path uphill to the watchtower had been very muddy ... all in all it is a good signed loop walk! The link to the description/map don't work anymore.

Very well marked out and some stunning scenery. Seems to be a shorter trail as you start out and has a lot of false peaks where you think you are near the completion but there is quite a ways to go. Bring all you will need with you water etc and a good pair of waterproof boots. The trail is very easy in places with nice paths but a bit wet in one or two spots. Highly recommend this walk but be prepared to take the whole day as you can be waiting for the return cable car for quite a while.