Scarr Mountain

Difficulty: Moderate

Time: 2.5 hours

Distance: 6.5km

Equipment: water, hiking boots, raincoat, hat, scarf, gloves

Families: Not suitable for buggies

Rating: 4.5 stars

Thankfully, this turned out to be reasonably straightforward out and back. We were really winging it with this one. We found what we imagined would be a manageable route on our OSI map for Wicklow but we couldn’t find any information online for climbing JUST Scarr. There are lots of routes that take in several mountains in one big loop but we’re more “one mountain at a time” kinda gals.

The biggest challenge for this walk is finding parking. There are some public parking spaces on the road outside the Lough Dan Scout Centre but you may find that you have to go back to Oldbridge and park in a layby. We were lucky/persistent and we managed to get a spot close to the start of the trail. The start of the walk is marked by wooden signs opposite the Lough Dan Scout centre, as shown in the picture below.

There is a well-defined track up through some spiky foliage and you will pass a very impressive wooden teepee yoke:

The walk is somewhat way-marked with markers dotted along the trail. Here’s one beside one of the aforementioned spikey bushes:

Eventually you will meet a gravel road. Follow this road uphill for about 1km until you reach a steel gate. Turn right after this steel gate and follow the grassy track to another steel gate. At first glance we thought we’d have to climb over this steel gate. After a shamefully long period of time we copped on that the bolted chain securing the gate to the post could be lifted up off the post to open the gate:

From here it’s fairly obvious where you’re going – follow the well-trodden track up to the summit (“11 o’clock” from the gate). The path is quite boggy and soft. An extra bonus for us, it being December, it was bitterly cold and as we got closer to the summit it became increasingly icy underfoot. But as we were not attempting to bag 5 peaks in one day and thus we were not under pressure for time, we took it handy and didn’t fall victim to the slippery frozen ground and we arrived to the summit in one piece. And what a incredible panorama! As Tara says “360 stunnin’ views”. This is one of the best walks we’ve done in terms of views – once you go through the steel gate the views become more and more impressive.

To return, slip and slide back down the way you came.