Kinnitty - Glinsk Castle Loop

This is a super trail and well worth a visit. Very good surface and very well signposted. We did it in just over 2 hours at a reasonable pace. There are some great views over the surrounding countryside. We were lucky to see deer at a number of different places along the route. The trail is obviously well used for horse riding as was evidenced by the amount of their debris all along the route!

This is one of our favourite trails as it has a path along the entire route, offers a varied environment and beautiful scenery and is suitable for all the family. We are a family of 2 adults and 2 children (7) (4) and grandparents (over 60) and this trail is very manageable for all. The trailhead has limited parking but is well signposted and offers shorter loop for those who wish to avail of one. A highlight today was to spend time listening to the Woodpecker in the forest as we made our way from the trailhead towards Kinnity castle. We took a picnic and enjoyed it from high above the forest at the Pigeonstown end. We saw some deer close by and lots of beautiful butterflies. The bluebells were spectacular. We always love to visit the Glinsk Castle ruins before making our way to the ridge where the views are the reward for the uphill climb. The route is used for pony trekking so there is rather a lot of horse dung along the path which is the only negative I can think of. A hidden gem.

This was a lovely trail with some amazing views. starting off through some forestry and gradually becoming more of a mountain/hill walk. We did the walk in around 2 hours at a moderate pace, so 3 is a very comfy time to come full circle.

The walk for us was a bit tainted by the vast amount of flies swarming around us from start to finish! So if you're going anytime soon, bring some repellent :)

August, 2013. This is a lovely trail with a great variety of distractions to occupy you along the way. Kinnitty village, Kinnitty Castle Hotel and and a varied landscape of desiduous, conifers and views across the open countryside. If following the 'Glinsk Castle Loop Walk - 29a', watch carefully for the sign, sharp - left, between C and D. Otherwise its blue signs all the way and well worth a visit.

We did this walk whilst on holiday in the local area on Sunday 3rd July 2011 on a lovely sunny summers day.

We thought this was a lovely walk with great far reaching views across Offaly on the first half, woodland trails and tracks in the middle and gorgeous views across the mountain valleys on the last downhill part. Don't expect much of Glinsk castle though, we thought we'd gone wrong somewhere and somehow missed it but it was in fact two stone pillars and some rocks we'd come across on one of the forest tracks! And if you want to see Kinnitty Castle you will have to take a small detour to the left, through a wooden gate and over a small stone river bridge about 1 km i, but it's well worth the visit. You can have tea/coffee or lunch here too. What we loved most about this walk was the tranquillity, bearing in mind this was one of the best days weatherwise and it was a mid summer weekend, apart from one dog walker at the beginning of the trail we saw no one else. We felt as if we had the whole Slieve Bloom Mountains to ourselves! We were also treated to wonderful surprise of a mother and baby deer crossing our path and towards the end of the walk a red squirel shot up a mature mountain spruce within feet of us! Would definitely recommend this walk, good gravel paths underfoot so no need for heavy walking boots, apart from one missing blue arrow sign when we needed to turn left, the way was well marked. This walk has a fab mix of woodland trails, some uphill stretches to wake up those muscles, points of interest, wildlife, and views. Not sure about the 3 hour timescale, we did it comfortable in less than 2 hours, but then we do set a good steady pace.