Irish Gravel Routes (Check out my Gravel Tips)

I wonder could a reworking of the Occupier's liability act allow open access.

That is to give recreational users of land as much and no more legal rights than a trespasser currently has.

We need to do something, gravel paths interwined with our boreen network is as good as cycling gets here

I was only reading the other day Heather Humphries extolling the benefits of the Governments strategic partnership with Coillte for outdoor recreation and announcing similar with Bord Na Mona,

Really the only way to get stuff like this sorted is pressure on politicians, they hold the purse strings, there are local, European and Dail elections coming over the near and medium term, everyone will be in election mode, make your voice heard

https://www.coillte.ie/our-forests/explore/

3000km of way marked walking trails, and 6 MTB centres 😭.

In reality the rule doesn't matter a sh1te to users of woods, there is zero policing of it and I'd imagine Coilte could care less about lads on gravel bikes.

The problem is it inhibits the growth of cycling from a tourism point of view. People should be able to share routes without risk whether they are in a business or not.

It has never effected where I ride but I'm semi cautious about sharing routes publicly.

We have this fantastic resource which can only be used on the quite but we can't market it because Coillte are afraid they'll be sued if riders get hurt/or hurt somebody.

In true Irish style you could make a walking book and just bring your bike for a walk I guess

The same cnuts allow deer shooting on their land with zero policing of how members of the public are safeguarded other than instructing shooters to erect signs.

All this. I've always thought the duty of care towards 3rd parties being on your property is way too skewed away from personal responsibility and is a driver of the "compo culture". A colleague of mine regularly has the MTB out in Coillte woods (which will remain nameless) with unofficial trails. Self same woods would be superb for gravel riding and looking at the Komoot feed of a certain former Irish pro turned presenter has been used for just that.

Allowing promotion of it as an activity could provide a mini greenway type effect and support small local businesses in otherwise remote and marginal areas.

Do you mean on Coillte/Public land or private lands?

Same issues MTB'ers have had for decades, not allowed on Coillte lands and certainly not on national parks either and that won't change..

Coillte has constructed a number of trail centres so that's where they expect all MTB users to go.

Follow up from Dave Flanagan

"Hi All.

Just to follow up on the previous discussion re Coillte and Gravel Cycling.

Firstly, a certain cycling TD and I are having a meeting with the Coillte head of recreation later in the week to discuss the subject. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this.

Secondly, Coillte are running a round of public consultations this week. So it's a great chance to go along and make your thoughts on their attitude to gravel riding heard.

https://www.coillte.ie/.../consulta.../current-consultation/

You can also send an email to info@coillte.ie. I think the best angle to take is that we should be pushing for them to permit cycling on forest roads unless there is a specific reason not to.

In the comments Flanagan is 100% this is a fight that should be lead by Cycling Ireland.

Hi All,

Thanks for sharing all your tips, not easy to find gravel routes around Ireland.

For those who live in Co. Cork, you can ride gravel in the Boggerah Mountains range and wind farm starting from Bweeng - I called Coilte who confirmed these could be ridden (pics attached).

You can also ride gravel on the fire roads between the MTB trails in Ballyhoura, there are no signs though so make sure you use a GPS.

I'm new to Boards so I can't post any links, routes are available here: https:// gravelmap . com/user/49453-alecskid3

Hope this helps!

Dave Flanagan update

Hi, I thought it might be useful to give an update on the Coillte situation.

We had a productive meeting with Coillte a few weeks ago. It seems that the crux of the issue is insurance. The Occupiers' Liability Act was discussed, and since our meeting this law has been updated. The updated act now places a lot more responsibility on the recreational user. This is very significant, the timing is excellent.

We hope to hear back from Coillte once they have had time to digest these changes and the positive impact they may have on the situation.

After my last post a few people were in touch saying that they had passed it on to political contacts of theirs. For some reason I can't find these messages, so if anyone with contacts with any politicians could get in touch that would be great. Ultimately these changes will only come about due to pressure from the top down.

Fingers crossed...

Folks, any links to strave gravel routes in the Dublin and or Wicklow mountains?

Your lunch will be earned anywhere near Glenmalure on a gravel bike 😉

it doesn't give a date? or am I missing it somewhere.

is it a race or a sportive?

Stickybottle referred to it as racing:

https://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/new-irish-gravel-series-launched-wicklow-and-slieve-blooms-events/

Same as…I’d be on it as a bikepacking / event trip - can’t get to Galway for the Gravel Grinder due to a christening so I was really hoping to do something for this one….perhaps it’ll be updated, looks in the early stages of planning ATM

No dates that I've seen yet anyway.