South Dublin Runs

brownian

While I prefer to run on trails and in forests, due to the lack of cars and the nice environment, it doesn't fit well into an hour or so of lunchbreak.

Based as I am in Deansgrange (S. Dublin), I tend to run

- in the "linear park" from Deangrange Crossroads to Ballybrack Tesco (10km, up to 15 if you go round all the playing fields and seek out any extra crinkle in the landscape. Car free except for one road crossing.
- on the piers in Dun Laoghaire (flat, car free, but short and often a bit crowded, lots of dog-doings to avoid, and a fair amount of roads, cars and so on between my house and the piers).
- in UCD (used to be good, but every time I go there now there's another building site...can't seem to find anything longer than a couple of KMs that's in any way flowing....but perhaps should try harder).

Has anyone got secret running spots that aren't too secret , in the general Clonskeagh/Stillorgan/Dun Laoghaire/Monkstown/Cherrywood/general south Dublin area? Ideally car free, ideally not lots of laps of a short loop ?

Krusty_Clown

Trails/Forests:There is a wealth of forest, hill and trail runs at the back of Cherrywood/Shankill, which is now one of the end-points of the Dublin Mountain Way. It's a mixture of country roads and trails, so best run during daylight hours, but great views and great fun. Here's a quick map I lashed together, highlighting some of the interesting locations. Here is a detailed Dublin Mountain Way map.

Other parks: Cabinteely Park, which is around a 1.5 mile loop. Shanganagh Park (Shankill) which is up to a 3 mile loop (depending on the route you take). Marley Park - a bit further away, but another nice spot.

Other good spots:
I really enjoy running up around Killiney / Dalkey hill area. Very scenic, but quite hilly.
Head south through Blackrock Park, towards Booterstown/Sandymount.
Take the Dart out to Howth and run back. A nice adventure.
Nice running up around Stepaside, if you're into longer distances.

n-dawg

Hey,

I grew up in that area and this is my favourite run when I'm at home with the parents.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/26906628

brownian

n-dawg wrote: »

Hey,

I grew up in that area and this is my favourite run when I'm at home with the parents.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/26906628

That looks pretty good, with a good ratio of park to road... must give it a go soon. Thanks!

brownian

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Trails/Forests:There is a wealth of forest, hill and trail runs at the back of Cherrywood/Shankill, which is now one of the end-points of the Dublin Mountain Way. It's a mixture of country roads and trails, so best run during daylight hours, but great views and great fun. [snip] Here is a detailed Dublin Mountain Way map.

.

Is it just me, or does the DMW take in a lot of road into and out of Glencullen, when it could just take the forestry track that goes from NE of Glencullen to Taylor's Folly (just east of "Newtown")? There's some extra climbing on the forestry road, but you skip a lot of narrow, pretty busy (at weekends) tarmac.

Similarly, there's a back road from Barnaslingan almost all the way into Kilternan, which would be a much quieter run than the main Enniskerry/Scalp road... you'd miss the pleasant Barnaslingan wood, though it can be run as a circuit if you really wanted to include it.

Those two changes would chop out the majority of the busy stuff... but of course the kudos of doing the full DMW would be seriously eroded

Krusty_Clown

Taking short-cuts would only be self-defeating. Might as well take the bus!
There's a lengthy debate on the Outdoor Pursuits forum about the choice of routes, amount of road bias, and access to private/disputed lands.

Fluorescence

Might be a little bit out of the way for you, but Bushy park is beautiful .