Sheep's Head - Seefin Loop

My wife, our 3 boys (aged 9, 7 & 6) and I walked this to work off some christmas turkey. It is relatively steep, muddy in places, there's surface water up on the mountain proper, route is well signposted and it's not too long. There are spectacular views from the top which we were lucky to get as the cloud only cleared for 5-7 minutes in total. The descent is fine also, though I found the walk to the old Ahakista to Kilcrohane road boring enough as you could see nothing. All in all, a great family walk to get rid of some turkey & get boys to sleep that night

First things first, we did this in Winter when it wasn't either paricularly cold nor wet, but it was still very muddy & wet, so prepare for dirty & wet feet, especially if you're not used to trail walking (like some of my companions weren't). Anyways, if you have a modicum of decent fitnesss, this isn't too taxing - my 3 kids did it aged 9, 7 & 6 so its not as strenuous as advertised; I do add though to have proper hiking footwear as a lot of it is off road through mud and mountain surface bog which is thoroughly enjoyable UNLESS you have bad footwear. Twas a bit foggy on our day in question meaning I had to scout a small bit ahead at times to find marker posts, but in general, its a lovely multi-terrained route with gorgeous scenery and a small feeling of adventurousness. Thoroughly enjoyable hike. I'm looking forward to doing full Sheeps Head route next year

Myself and my girlfriend did this walk recently (Good Friday 2015). This was our first ever hike and it was thoroughly enjoyable. However, there was one glitch. Someone had rotated the initial Seefin Loop sign to point uphill (around the first corner from Arundel's pub) rather than signalling an almost immediate left turn. Being beginners we proceeded to follow the walking signs (for a longer walk) for an hour until we stopped a helpful local who assured us we were not, in fact, on the Seefin Loop! After swallowing our dented prides we made our way back to the loop beginning (a further hour trek) and took a well deserved rest and bite to eat. Having driven two hours to get there we were not leaving without completing our intended task. We are so glad we did. Granted the trek was a little tougher after having a two-hour warm-up and the ascent to the peak of the loop is rather steep in parts but the views were spectacular on that particularly bright warm day. We got some amazing photographs and it's easy to see how people fall in love with the rugged West Cork coastline! It was rather breezy at the top but we snuggled together and drank hot chocolate that we brought and it was all good. I didn't say this to my girlfriend at the time but I felt a real sense of pride in her battling on after our initial cock-up, through a blistered heel, on a strenuous climb, with a smile on her face for five and a half hours. I always knew she was mentally and physically tough but I only realised sitting hunched together that she'd never shy away from any challenge and that was so reassuring to find out on just our first hike together. The meander down the hill was thoroughly enjoyable and it was good to reach a level plateau for the final stretch of the walk. At the end of the walk we noticed a sign for a ring fort and decided to follow it but there was no clue as to how far it was to it. We walked for 5 mins but not knowing the distance to it our impatient tired bodies gave up and we were looking forward to dinner and rest. Being Good Friday the pub was closed so we struck off home. I would highly recommend this walk and it is a definite must if you're into walking and you live close by.

I completed this trail last summer and it was a great day out. The walk commenced and ended in Fitzpatricks pub in Kilcrohane. The first part of the walk was up the road to Finn McCools seat and then off the path along the ridge to the top of Seefin. Just before the summit there is a small almost vertical wall to negiotiate but plenty of handholds were available. At the top the view is spectacular with views from the North of the Beara peninsula from Bantry to Castletownbere and Bere Island. East and West gives you the whole Sheeps head peninsula and to the South the Mizen. I was quite easily able to make out the Fastnet lighthouse to the South. The descent was gradual and extremely well marked so I would have no problem recommending this walk to people of all ages/ abilities.