EasyBog trail · Killarney · recorded

Kilcummin
Bog Walk.

A long but approachable recorded loop through the low hills and bog landscape of Kilcummin, with broad views towards Killarney and the Kerry mountains.

DISTANCE

11.43km

ASCENT

239m

HIGH POINT

328m

Rob’s recorded time 2 hr 26 · long, low-level loop · 730 recorded track points GRADE GUIDE ↗

Reading the map…

INTERACTIVE TERRAIN · ACTUAL GPX TRACKACTUAL GPX TRACK

A recorded time is not a planning estimate. Build your own from pace, ascent, ground, weather and daylight.

DECIDE HAZARDS GO

GPX EMERGENCY

ONE · BEFORE YOU COMMIT

Is this your day?

The grade, the hazards, the forecast and the ground the route actually crosses. Everything you need to decide whether to go at all.

WEATHER AT A GLANCE

Forecast for around 300 m

Approx. 300 m

NOWReading the forecast

WINDReading the forecast

TODAY’S PEAK RAIN CHANCEReading the forecast

Forecast. This is a modelled estimate for this route’s high ground; conditions can differ sharply across the mountain. Detailed planning guidance follows. Derived from Open-Meteo forecast data ↗.

RECORDED LOW-LEVEL PROFILE

215 m to 328 m.

The recorded profile stays within a narrow elevation band, with steady undulations rather than a sustained mountain climb.

328 m215 m

Reading the forecast

0 km239 m ascent · 235 m descent11.43 km

THE LINE

Bog country above Killarney.

This broad loop crosses the open countryside of Kilcummin, staying between approximately 215 m and 328 m. What the bog gives back for the small effort is distance: Donal Hickey describes these walks looking out over the Killarney Lakes and the surrounding MacGillycuddy Reeks. Its modest climbing makes it more approachable than the mountain routes on Slí Kerry, while the 11.43 km still calls for comfortable walking fitness.

Writing about the Kilcummin Bog Walks in 2022, Donal Hickey set today’s leisure walking alongside memories of the work of harvesting turf, when young and old helped at the banks. It is a useful way to read the ground: the walking routes share a landscape that people have known through work as well as recreation.

The limekiln by the road

Seven metres off the recorded line the loop passes a limekiln, mid to late nineteenth century, built into a steep bank on the north side of a minor road. Its front wall is random rubble, three metres high, built into the field boundary, with a recess behind a roughly built arch that has no voussoirs. The top of it is overgrown. Burnt lime went onto land like this to sweeten sour ground, which is the same story as the turf banks told from the other end.

Cill Chuimín

Kilcummin is Cill Chuimín, the church of Cuimín. The name preserves an ecclesiastical association in this bog country; the Placenames Database places the parish in the barony of Magunihy.

01Kilcummin startThe recorded loop begins at approximately 254 m.
02Open bog countryA gradual rise leads through the low hills east of Killarney.
03Southern sideThe route turns through quieter countryside with modest height changes.
04Return loopThe recorded line closes near its starting point.

The account of turf work and changing use of the bog comes from Donal Hickey’s Irish Examiner article on the Kilcummin Bog Walks (9 June 2022) ↗. The limekiln is Archaeological Survey record KE059-063, compiled by the Archaeological Survey Unit at University College Cork and measured from the recorded GPX to its published coordinate; what lime was used for on this ground is general practice rather than anything the record says. Cill Chuimín and the barony follow the Placenames Database.

PLANNING FORECAST · AROUND 300 M

Reading the forecast

WIND NOWReading the forecast

—cloud

—humidity

—km/h peak gust

Strongest wind today—

Peak gust—

RECENT RAINFALL · LIKELY GROUND

Reading the forecast

RAIN, GUST & VISIBILITY WINDOW

Reading the forecast

BEST HIKING WINDOW

Reading the forecast

DAYLIGHT PLAN

Reading the forecast

MET ÉIREANN · KERRY

Reading the forecast

NEXT SIX HOURS · swipe

Reading the forecast

HAZARDS & OPTIONSKnow the commitment.

The loop is over 11 km, so allow enough time even though the climbing is modest.

Bog and track surfaces may be wet, soft or slippery after rain.

Some sections may share quiet local roads. Stay visible and take care around traffic.

Waymarking and access can change. Carry the route independently and follow local signs.

This is a low-level loop with several opportunities to shorten the day using the local road network. Do not improvise across bog, farmland or private ground.

FROM THE BOG WALK

Rob’s photographs.

1 photographTap to enlarge from the recorded day · select to enlarge

A Green Walk waymarker beside a quiet bog road with the Kerry mountains across the horizon — 01The green walk towards the mountains

TWO · YOU’VE DECIDED

Getting there.

Where it starts, the recorded file, and the checks worth making before you leave the house.

PLAN THE GROUND

Start well.

RECORDED STARTKilcummin Bog Walk trailhead

Select coordinates to copy

The route begins and finishes at the supplied Kilcummin coordinate. Confirm current parking arrangements and respect homes, farms, livestock and local access along the loop. This is a dog-friendly walk, but dogs should be kept under close control and on a lead around livestock, wildlife and other walkers.

ROUTE FILE

Take the recorded route with you.

730 recorded track points, exactly as walked. Load it into your watch, phone or offline mapping before you leave signal.

Distance, recorded time, track geometry and elevation come from Rob’s supplied GPX and GeoJSON. Access and conditions must be checked independently.

Download original GPXkilcummin-bog-walk.gpx · as recorded GeoJSON KML

Onto a watch: import the GPX into Garmin Connect, Komoot or Strava and send it to the device from there. On a phone, the Garmin Explore and OS Maps apps take the file straight from the share sheet.

BEFORE YOU GO