Welcome to my blog about working, living & Travelling in Ireland!
Looking for inspiration for a beautiful walk in nature in South Galway/North Clare? Check out my below instructions for Bunakippaun Woodland Attyslany 5 km looped walk. The walk is right on the Galway/Clare border, you can say you were in both counties in the one day!
Click here to check out other Walk/Cycles I have mapped in the South Galway/North Clare region.
Looking for Gort Cycle Trails ? Check out my new website or join the GortCycleTrails FB Group.
Coilte Woodland Restoration Project
This is one of the 9 project sites of Coilte, where Coilte is restoring Priority Woodland Habitats in Ireland, this is site number 2. Last year I visited site number 7, CastleTaylor Woods , you can check out that walk here. Both sites fall under the heading of Woodland with Limestone and yew. More info on the Coilte Website here.
Information board Bunakippaun Woodland Attyslany
Looking at the information board, it shows there are two looped walks that aren’t connected, however when we walked it, we didn’t see where the first loop ended and the second loop started, so we did one big loop ( and also got a little bit lost 🙂 on the way back.
What does the Bunakippaun WoodlandAttyslany looped walk look like?
( I forgot to switch off the tracker so it shows as 8 km )
Distance : Approximately 5 km
Things to bring: Bring Snacks/Drinks so you can take a break when you get tired. There aren’t any benches, so bringing a small blanket will make it more comfortable to sit. Don’t forget to charge your phone before you head off, and tell someone where you are going if you are going on your own. Or better, bring a friend to enjoy this walk with!
Footwear: I would recommend wearing hiking boots or sturdy shoes as the surface can be rough in places
Where to park at Bunakippaun Attyslany Woodland
There are two places you can park a the Bunakippaun Attyslany Woodland.
You can park at the Tubber Tiger GAA Grounds , as the entrance to the Bunaukippaun Woodland Attyslany is on a narrow road with no parking. It’s a short walk from the Tubber Tiger GAA Grounds to the entrance of the Bunakippaun Attyslany Woodland.
Check out this map from Gort to Tubber GAA. I prefer to drive via Tubber village as the road is not as busy as the other roads. Interesting bit of information, Tubber village is right on the border of Co. Clare and Co. Galway, some people live in Co. Galway, others live in Co.Clare!
Alternatively you can park on the opposite side of the looped walk, where there is plenty of parking. See Drive from Gort ( Via Kilmacduagh – be mindful for cyclists, the roads is narrow )
As it happens the parking is right on the border of Co. Clare and Co. Galway ( see picture), The Burren Mountains behind me! There is apparently also a holy well ( I only saw this on the map as I was putting the blog article together)
The area there ( and most of the surface of the walk in the forest) has recently been resurfaced, making it very suitable to walk it with a pram/buggy or even cycle it)
The terrain at the Attyslany Woodland Walk
We started from the Tubber side where the surface is walkable and relatively smooth, including some stones and tree trunks.
At some point there is very steep downhill part, and until then I would have said you could walk it with a buggy ( with a bit of muscle power and determination). It’s pretty steep so don’t think it’s a good idea. ( picture of myself where there is sudden drop, the picture doesn’t do it justice). I was struggling on the way back, as it’s a steep hill!) Looking on Strava it’s a 6 meter drop!
A much better idea is to start your trip from the other side (Kilmacduagh Side), where the path/parking was recently resurfaced, allowing for easy navigation of the loop. You will just need to keep on the path, rather than heading for the Tubber entrance.
Hopefully they will add some signage as we got a little bit lost and ended walking the same road again ( for a while until our penny dropped that we had seen it before). It just meant we had some extra time to enjoy the tea in our flask and some very yummie donuts 🙂
I loved this walk, it’s very peaceful and quiet, another great example of forest bathing, and lot’s of bird sounds, rural views, and depending on the time of the year, you’ll see flowers typical in the Burren, check out the fauna & Flora in the Burren.
It’s a great way to unplug, enjoy nature, and recharge those batteries!
If you liked reading this, why not share it with a friend, and let me know if you walked this!
Katleen