Sugarlof this weekend?

TalkingGoose

Hey just wondering does anyone know the state of the Sugarloaf at the moment or what it will be like this weekend to climb? And roughly how long does it take to walk from kilmacanogue to the summit? I have some experience hill walking, norrmally blessed with good weather though!
Thanks to anyone who can help out, Darren.

aoife161

You can park at the bottom of the sugar loaf, there's a new car park there. It takes about 1 hour to walk it. I'm not sure of its state though, I know Bray had some more snow there yesterday so there might be still remains of snow up the mountain.

Slogger Jogger

You could hardly see the Sugarloaf this evening with rain and low cloud but what I could see was pure white. I reckon it would be quite slippery underfoot in parts, so wear your grippiest footware.

Poster_Man

I climbed the sugarloaf a few days ago. You can park in the carpark at the bottom, however the road leading to it is quite icy but you should be ok in a decent car. Just be sure to get your speed up entering the carpark as theres quite a bit of snow there. One guy got his car stuck in the entrance while i was there. The sugarloaf itself is completely covered in snow, quite deep in places. It was an enjoyable climb though, not particularly difficult although we went up the hard way, the easy route would be fine. Enjoy it if you go! its nice in the snow!

TalkingGoose

I should have said we'll be using public transport to get there. Cool cheers for all the info I have a fairly good pair of boots that should do the job. Looking at my map the carpark is on the south sidee, has anyone used the trail coming from the north side?

truckey

Hi,
Where exactly is the car park? Would be interested in headin up it...

foolelle

it'll take about 2 hours to get to the top from the last bus stop outside the on the run shop. I know there is snow on it but dont ask me what the conditions are like on the hill side. The north side is a longer trek than the car park on the south obviously and is quite steep in parts but a really nice walk. I climbed it at the end of the summer last and tackled it from the east, and it was fairly hard as there is no trail and the hillside is covered in scree.

TalkingGoose

Hi Foolelle, thanks for the times, sounds like a lovely walk, I missed out last Sunday couldn't get the rest of them out of their beds, a pity cause it was such a nice day. Anyway hopefully we'll get out this Saturday so we're all having an early night on Friday to make sure we get out! Just wondering does anyone know of any hills/mountains in the north Wicklow area that can be reached by public transport?

Alun

TalkingGoose wrote: »

Just wondering does anyone know of any hills/mountains in the north Wicklow area that can be reached by public transport?

Not really. There's a private bus service to Glendalough (St Kevins Bus) but the timings aren't really great for a day in the mountains.

For the Dublin Mountains things are a little better, and there's a bus called the Dublin mountaineer that does a circular route starting at the Sandyford Luas stop allowing you to do point to point walks, see http://www.dublinmountains.ie/transport/transport/.

TalkingGoose

Thanks Alun, I have been to Glendalough a few times but the times aren't great, much better staying over. The last time I went I cycled from Dublin and stayed over in the hostel for a few nights had a brilliant weekend there in June. I'll have to look in to this Dublin mountaineer sounds like a really good service.

Judge

Alun wrote: »

Not really. There's a private bus service to Glendalough (St Kevins Bus) but the timings aren't really great for a day in the mountains.

For the Dublin Mountains things are a little better, and there's a bus called the Dublin mountaineer that does a circular route starting at the Sandyford Luas stop allowing you to do point to point walks, see http://www.dublinmountains.ie/transport/transport/.

The Mountaineer is not running at the moment though. The Dublin Mountains Partnership mentions it will resume in the Spring (which could be anytime between now and May).

An alternative to getting into the Dublin Mountains would be either the 161 Dublin Bus to Rockbrook or the 44B to Glencullen. 44B can also be used to access the Wicklow Way trailhead from Boranaraltry Bridge. Times are infrequent and neither bus runs at weekends.

The 185 bus to Shop River is useful for accessing some of the hills near Enniskerry, including the Wicklow Way trailhead at Curtlestown Woods. (Shame it doesn't go all the way to Glencree).

The 44 to Enniskerry passes through The Scalp and can be used to get to the trails at Barnaslingan and Carrickgollogan. Good for a half-day's jaunt.

One use of the St Kevin's bus is to take it as far as Roundwood and walk back to Enniskerry (at least as far as the 185 bus stop at Shop River) along the Wicklow Way. You'd need to be confident you can manage long distances and the schlep along the road at the end is a killer.