Lough Dan

Bits_n_Bobs

I've walked around Lough Dan a few times and was wondering if it's possible (or even advisable) to go for a dip in it? I was thinking somewhere at the far end from the scouts camp where the river enters it - from a safety point probably in the river for a wee paddle?

Is that accessible from the path that runs along the side of the Lough or is it on private grounds?

Any help / advice much appreciated

Fratton Fred

Bits_n_Bobs wrote: »

I've walked around Lough Dan a few times and was wondering if it's possible (or even advisable) to go for a dip in it? I was thinking somewhere at the far end from the scouts camp where the river enters it - from a safety point probably in the river for a wee paddle?

Is that accessible from the path that runs along the side of the Lough or is it on private grounds?

Any help / advice much appreciated

There is a lovely beach that gets quite crowded on a sunny day. It is the very far end of the lake and about a 30 minute walk from the nearest road.

Bits_n_Bobs

Thanks - I think that's the one I had in mind I could see it from the hills around the lough but was not sure if it was safe / accessible

sgt.bilko

I know of that end of the lake and to the best of my knowledge it's not the safest to be swimming off.

Also bear in mind the beach itself , and indeed the surrounding area, is privately owned and I've heard of the owner ensuring that it remains so for choice of better wording.

BarryD

You'd need to differentiate between 'a paddle' and 'a swim'. You could take a paddle there in many of the wee pools along the Inchavore River but to swim you obviously need a bit of depth. The problem with mountain lakes is often that the water is peaty and dark. You can't often easily see if there are things like tree branches or rocks just below the surface. The bottom can also be soft in places though that's not a great problem as long as you're a confident swimmer and don't need to stand up..

I haven't swum in Lough Dan but I'd guess the safer places are either from the sandy places or at the Scout centre. The fields at Inchavore are indeed owned by people, indeed a well known Irish businessman owns a portion, as far as I know. The scenic beach in the NE corner is most definitely private..

I have swum in various lakes and river pools in Wicklow over the year, never had much problem provided you're careful and discrete.

mad turnip

I've gone swimming in it and its grand, just check where your getting in.

Bits_n_Bobs

It's more a small walk followed by a long paddle / lazy lunch in the sun I have in mind. I had a suspicion that the beach was privately owned alright

Donny5

sgt.bilko wrote: »

I know of that end of the lake and to the best of my knowledge it's not the safest to be swimming off.

Also bear in mind the beach itself , and indeed the surrounding area, is privately owned and I've heard of the owner ensuring that it remains so for choice of better wording.

Are you sure it's private? At least part of the shore is in the National Park.

Anyway, swimming (or walking barefoot) on that beach is problematic because of the amount of broken glass in the sand, which, while hard to see ashore, is impossible to see in the water. After swimming there wearing sandals, I found a nice shard of a beer bottle embedded in my sole.

BarryD

The National Park have three small parcels of land in or near Lough Dan. Two are part of the lake itself and one is a block of shore on the eastern side. The first two are isolated parcels with no legal public access, the eastern block could be approached from the adjoining Coillte plantation but the ground is very difficult there.. so technically you could legally swim in the public portions but you'd have to be dropped in from a chopper etc!!

nomdeboardie

BarryD wrote: »

The National Park have three small parcels of land in or near Lough Dan. Two are part of the lake itself and one is a block of shore on the eastern side. The first two are isolated parcels with no legal public access, the eastern block could be approached from the adjoining Coillte plantation but the ground is very difficult there.. so technically you could legally swim in the public portions but you'd have to be dropped in from a chopper etc!!

Looking at one of your East-West maps here, it's hard to see where the main section of the National Park land ends as it runs down towards the NW corner og the lake. Does the lane marked in white form the border? Is the lane itself public or private? (Or maybe I don't want to know... I don't remember seeing any notices the one time I went down to that corner of the lake a year or two ago.)

BarryD wrote: »

... The fields at Inchavore are indeed owned by people, indeed a well known Irish businessman owns a portion, as far as I know. ...

Maybe he could donate a right of way to the nation in return for his previous...er...good luck... in a former licence acquisition (IF I'm thinking of the correct person)...;)

Alun

nomdeboardie wrote: »

Looking at one of your East-West maps here, it's hard to see where the main section of the National Park land ends ...

Indeed, it is very difficult to clearly see what is NP and what isn't, not only on the E-W maps but the OS ones too, especially where there are small pockets of land marked where it is difficult to see if they're enclaves or exclaves, as it were.

You'd imagine the WMNP would have a half way decent map on their website showing the current boundaries but I've never found one, apart from an ancient badly scanned B&W map buried in a (equally ancient) development plan somewhere.

MugMugs

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055674202

BarryD

Maybe this helps - as far as I know, what is shown in red here is WMNP land and what is shown in a darker shade of green is Coillte property. This should just be taken as a guide, it's not a legal definition. I've generally tried to give some guidance on my mapping as to state owned lands but I don't want to produce a map that looks like a legal document. So a balance has to be achieved and there's always difficulty with showing small isolated pockets of land.

I think it's clear from this that it's very difficult to legally access the parts of Lough Dan that are in public ownership. You could access the eastern shore via Coillte and WMPNS land but that's steep, rough, difficult ground..

Bits_n_Bobs

Thanks for all the replies and helpful information. In the end we decided it was too hot to be wandering around the place hoping that it would be possible to get to the lough and not wander over private land while doing so. Awful pity that it is so tricky to get access - I do remember swimming in it as a kid and not going through any huge palaver to do so.