Howth scenic route

onlineweb

Recently bought a hybrid, really enjoying cycling at the moment. I think I’ve caught the bug.

I head out every 2-3 days and do in between 20 km to 30 km.

I generally cycle to Howth and back again; however, I noticed that there is a scenic route you can take at Sutton junction.

Would you recommend it for a beginner, I’m unsure if I could cycle uphill for longer than 30 mins.

Let me know your thoughts.

Hurrache

It's a longer climb than from the village side. The village side is steeper but will obviously be shorter, the scenic route just takes longer to reach the summit so more tiring. I'd say just give it a go anyway and see how you fare.

You'll have a free wheel down into the village anyway to recover with either a coffee or fish and chips as a treat as soon as you reach the bottom.

MyDarkArts

I'd recommend the "scenic" route rather than the through the village route, especially for a beginner. Longer but not as steep.

neris

It's an easy climb up the Sutton side and flattens out & goes down in parts. From just after offington to past the golf club is probably the worst part and there's a nice downhill after that part to recover on too

Mercian Pro

When you are about a km from the top you can turn off to the right onto Old Thormanby Road. It brings you up to near the Summit and is, I think, a little easier than staying on Carrickbrack Road. Take it easy coming down into the village as there have been quite a few bike accidents down near the church.

Wishbone Ash

I'm surprised that no one has given the traditional answer to new cyclists seeking a scenic route to the summit - i.e. village side and keep to the right of the church.

neris

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm surprised that no one has given the traditional answer to new cyclists seeking a scenic route to the summit - i.e. village side and keep to the right of the church.

It's something everyone should do once.

RobertFoster

neris wrote: »

It's something everyone should do once.

..a visit to Howth

mr spuckler

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm surprised that no one has given the traditional answer to new cyclists seeking a scenic route to the summit - i.e. village side and keep to the right of the church.

And right again up Windgate road for more...scenery.

mr spuckler

OP, the 'scenic' side from Sutton is easier as others have said. Just take your time and see how you get on. Stop and take a break if needs be too but you'll feel great satisfaction when you reach the top.

Tony04

mr spuckler wrote: »

And right again up Windgate road for more...scenery.

And right again up ben of howth if your tyres permit

neris

mr spuckler wrote: »

And right again up Windgate road for more...scenery.

I like that little bit of "scenery" up Wingate Road its a regular when Im out but I normally come at it from the other side and turn left up it.

On the Sutton side another nice little route is to go Strand Road up by the Dinghy Club to Sutton Castle then a right at the junction and up and around onto Carrickbrack Road

CrankyHaus

The descent via Sutton is better than the descent via Howth village.
The Howth village descent is interrupted by a traffic light 2/3 of the way down and you have to deliberately slow at the village.
The sutton descent is much more open and you can slow naturally as it levels off from the primary school; though the new speed bumps may be annoying.

neris

RobertFoster wrote: »

..a visit to Howth

NO enough bloody day trippers as it is

Cionn

Find the road down to the Baily lighthouse, the climb back up to the main road has a bit of sting in it. Beautiful location and a Strava segment. All nicely surfaced too

mr spuckler

Cionn wrote: »

Find the road down to the Baily lighthouse, the climb back up to the main road has a bit of sting in it. Beautiful location and a Strava segment. All nicely surfaced too

I only found this recently after several years of knocking around Howth by bike

Effects

The tram line down from the Summit pub is a nice spin as well. Obviously not on a road bike!

onlineweb

I’m going to attempt the cycle up to Howth Head now.

Wish me luck; I’ll let you know how I get on.

onlineweb

TLDR: I made it.

This was my first trip to Howth Head. Here is my experience as an amateur cyclist.

I’m cycling for approx two months, I started in May. The last time I used a bike was 20 years ago when cycling to school.


I set out this afternoon on my Hybrid, I took a right at Sutton junction, decided to take the scenic route.

Cycling uphill was daunting; cycling downhill was intimidating. I can understand why so many cyclists have accidents at the church; the hill is a lot steeper than expected. Overall it was exhilarating.


On the way up, I was passed by approx 15 cyclists; they all said hello. I have never come across another sport where others are so friendly. Fair play!

There was a great atmosphere when I eventually got to the top; everyone was very chatty. (The Car Park at the top)

When I was on the way up, I was passed by a team of cyclists, approx 6. On the way down the hill into the village, I saw the same cyclists cycling uphill again. I thought that was hardcore fair play to them.

I am beginning to love this sport.

magicbastarder

A lot of people don't do the downhill into howth village, it's more scenic and more enjoyable to go back the road you climbed up on. Great that you enjoyed it.

onlineweb

I've been up to Howth Head 3 times so far over the past seven days, absolutely loving it. Plus it's excellent for my Cardio.

I noticed another road at the far end of Howth; you turn right after the King Sitric Restaurant. I think its Balscadden.

Can you reach Howth Head using this road and what is it like compared to the other routes?

Wishbone Ash

onlineweb wrote: »

...I noticed another road at the far end of Howth; you turn right after the King Sitric Restaurant. I think its Balscadden.

Can you reach Howth Head using this road and what is it like compared to the other routes?

It eventually comes to a dead end for vehicles at a car park. There's a pedestrian path from then onwards.

(That road is also becomes a one way when coming back down so you have to take a left turn onto Kilrock Road and then a right onto Nashville Road to bring you back to the main road).

EDIT: I should have added that when you get to the crossroads on Kilrock Road, if you go straight on, it leads to a little path which will bring you back out onto the main road further up. I use it a fair bit.

onlineweb

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

It eventually comes to a dead end for vehicles at a car park. There's a pedestrian path from then onwards.

(That road is also becomes a one way when coming back down so you have to take a left turn onto Kilrock Road and then a right onto Nashville Road to bring you back to the main road).

EDIT: I should have added that when you get to the crossroads on Kilrock Road, if you go straight on, it leads to a little path which will bring you back out onto the main road further up. I use it a fair bit.

Cool, might give it a try!

Wishbone Ash

onlineweb wrote: »

Cool, might give it a try!

There's a little section on the way up which may be steep for a new cyclist although it's very short. I'm not sure if you're on Strava but if you are it's this bit: https://www.strava.com/segments/3245923

neris

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

There's a little section on the way up which may be steep for a new cyclist although it's very short. I'm not sure if you're on Strava but if you are it's this bit: https://www.strava.com/segments/3245923

That's a great little climb where your praying no car comes up behind you

Wishbone Ash

neris wrote: »

That's a great little climb where your praying no car comes up behind you

Erratic pedestrians all over the road are a much bigger problem (especially in good weather).

Breezer

I’m inspired! I’m going to give this a go next weekend if the weather isn’t horrific. I’ve been commuting to work by bike for two years now and I think it’s about time I started seeing my bike as something other than a functional means of getting to the office. The more I read about gravel bikes the more I want to actually do the Howth Head cliff walk itself (and elsewhere), but I’ll stick to the roads on my hybrid for now.

Tony04

Breezer wrote: »

The more I read about gravel bikes the more I want to actually do the Howth Head cliff walk itself (and elsewhere), but I’ll stick to the roads on my hybrid for now.

You've got get up really early to do that in the summer also from the bailey to redrock it's pretty much unreadable on a bike.

A mountain bike is probably better for offroad howth as theres a fair chunk of steep technical stuff.

Breezer

Tony04 wrote: »

You've got get up really early to do that in the summer also from the bailey to redrock it's pretty much unreadable on a bike.

A mountain bike is probably better for offroad howth as theres a fair chunk of steep technical stuff.

Oh I know, I wouldn’t dream of doing it with pedestrians and dogs etc. milling about. It’ll give me an excuse to get up.

Good to know re the technical bits. I don’t possess either a gravel bike or a mountain bike at the moment so it’s a moot point really. I don’t think I’d do enough mountain biking to justify buying one, but I like the look of the gravel ones. I did see a video of a lad doing it on a gravel bike. He may have edited out the bits where he carried the bike and I don’t mind doing the same!

Effects

I do it a bit on a gravel bike. I always approach from the Sutton side myself. There's a few sections where you need to carry your bike, but not too many. You mainly get tourists on the section closest to Howth, as the Dart brings them there. But as mentioned, I get there early, and any people you do meet are mostly friendly. I always yield to pedestrians, unless they signal me to pass.

Mercian Pro

Walked the Cliff Path recently from Redrock to just south of the Nose of Howth. At that stage it just got too stressful with people coming towards us, a very narrow path and few lay-bys so we diverted up onto Thormanby Road. This was midweek as I wouldn't dream of going anywhere near the path at the weekend.

I think had we met a cyclist along the way, I would have given them an earful about antisocial behaviour but, thankfully, the only cyclists we saw were on the roads. I can image that it would be a lot quieter early in the morning but it might still be worth avoiding the Cliff Path for the time being.

mr spuckler

It looks like there are plenty of tracks up around the quarry to explore and should be much quieter up there too. I plan to take the MTB up there one of the days anyway.

CrankyHaus

mr spuckler wrote: »

It looks like there are plenty of tracks up around the quarry to explore and should be much quieter up there too. I plan to take the MTB up there one of the days anyway.

Some of them are a good bit wider than the cliff walk too, making it less of an issue if you encounter pedestrians.

Tony04

I mtb alot around howth and really the cliffs are best to avoid as you can only ride from balscadden to baileys anyway and I would only ride that from September to april or at sunrise in the summer morning and at that I would only really ride uphill on the paths rather than downhill.

Theres a good few quiter paths around the masts which are fine to ride on but howth is more suited to climbing than downhills as any downhill that's reasonable to go on, I.e no walkers, are pretty steep and technical.

In terms of gravel biking your could ride rock a bit around the masts the upper cliff path and from the road at sheilmartin across the golf club to the quarry

If anyone wants a map I might post one on here

mr spuckler

Tony04 wrote: »

If anyone wants a map I might post one on here

That would be great if you could, thanks

Raam

Try these maps...

edit: hang on, file too big

Raam

Maps

Tony04

Created this


All the trails of howth as far to my knowledge excluded cliff path from red rock to bailey as it's not suited for bikes.
Blue-suitable to gravel bikes
Yellow- kind of technical mtb more suited.
Red- really technical
Black- extremely technical

Tony04

Tony04 wrote: »

Created this


All the trails of howth as far to my knowledge excluded cliff path from red rock to bailey as it's not suited for bikes.
Blue-suitable to gravel bikes
Yellow- kind of technical mtb more suited.
Red- really technical
Black- extremely technical

Edit: sorry about the inaccuracies hopefully it gives you a gist of where the trails are
Completely forgot about the tram line
Also alot of trails had work done recently which involves adding kerbs in in some steep sections so be careful not to puncture on these if coming down these sections

RobertFoster

Raam wrote: »

Maps

I had such a good time in the Bog of Frogs I got lost and ended up at the Hippy Hole in Doldrum Bay.

magicbastarder

at least you didn't end up with a worn hole.
(is that a typo for worm hole?)