The South Dublin area continues to be developed as a recreational space for those who love the outdoors. The Dublin Mountains contain many hiking and walking trails, not to mention high-wire activities for adventure lovers. Most trails are less than 45 minutes from the city centre.
Tibradden Wood Is The Perfect Sunday Walk
There is a big car park at the entrance to the Tibradden trail or you can take the 44B bus from Dundrum Luas Station towards Glencullen, it takes about 15 minutes.
At the entrance to the trail is Zipit, an action-packed zipline trail high in the trees. These mountainous pines grow to great heights and this is a heart-pumping experience. The zipline trail goes from the forest entrance to the summit of Tibradden mountain. The mountain is formed from granite with odd glacial boulders strewn around.
Tibradden Wood is between Cruagh and Kilmashogue mountain and is about 470m above sea level, which means you will feel a temperature drop as you go up the trail. It begins with a beautiful wooded area of Scots pine, Japanese Larch, Sitka spruce, oak and beech. Some of the trees are more than 100 years old. This wood is also known as the Pine Forest.
The path is quite steep in places and you will soon feel the glow of exercise. It is a hard surfaced trail with wooden boards in places when it can be mucky. As you climb higher up the trees end and the whole of south of Dublin comes into view. Soon you will see Dublin Bay and Howth to the north and Dun Laoghaire to the south.
Further south the view is framed by the Wicklow Mountains with the distinctive Sugarloaf Mountain in sight. As you come out of the treeline it opens into wide bracken and heather covered land, with a stray tree here and there.
Signs of prehistoric life exist at this level with a stone circle and a cist tomb. At the top of Tibradden is a cairn. It is thought to be a burial site from the Bronze age. The cairn or mound of stones, marks the summit of the mountain.
The cairn was excavated in 1849 and it was found to contain a pottery food vessel and cremated remains. The burial urn is now in the National Museum in Dublin. It is about two metres deep and an ideal spot to take shelter.
You can continue on over the mountain at this point and join the long-distance Wicklow Way or having taken in the view head back down the trail. It takes about 1.5 hours to do.
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