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Great Sugar Loaf Walk

4.10 miles (6.6 km)

Open Streetmap This popular loop walk climbs to Great Sugar Loaf in the Wicklow Mountains.
The conical shaped mountain is located near the village of Kilmacanogue near Dublin. From the 501m (1,644 ft) summit there are wonderful views over the city to the coastline and even as far as the mountains of Wales on a clear day.
The walk starts from Kilmacanogue and picks up the waymarked Sugar Loaf Trail to the west of the village. You'll then head towards Sugar Lump before climbing to the Great Sugar Loaf summit. On the way you can look also out for a wide variety of wildlife including deer, hare and buzzards.
Parts of the trail are also suitable for mountain bikers.

Great Sugar Loaf Open Street Map Open Streetmap - Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking

Pubs/Cafes

Pluck's of Kilmac is located in Kilmacanogue for some post walk refreshments. The friendly pub serves a good range of drinks and has some outdoor seating for warmer weather. You can find them at Glencap Commons North, A98 RX46.
There's also the lovely Avoca Fern House Cafe set in lovely grounds with ancient trees and rolling gardens, The complex also includes a retail store, award-winning restaurant, beautiful outdoor terraces, a Food Market and the Avoca Garden Rooms, bursting with blooms and plants.

Further Information and Other Local Ideas

You could head to the nearby village of Delgany and try the Delgany Heritage Trail. The waymarked circular loop walk visits some of the interesting historical landmarks in the village.
Head east to the coast and you could pick up the popular Bray to Greystones Walk. There are some glorious cliff top views to enjoy from this vantage point.
To the north you can pick up the epic Dublin Mountains Way in Shankill. The popular waymarked trail takes you west into the stunning scenery of the Wicklow Mountains. Here you can visit Barnaslingan and Carrickgollogan where there's fine viewpoints, woodland trails, historic leadmines and a noteworthy ruined ancient church.
To the south you'll find the noteworthy Glen Of The Downs. The nature reserve includes some fine ancient woodland, the interesting remains of an historic estate and some wonderful viewpoints.

Photos

Great Sugar Loaf (from south)

The profile of the mountain means it can be mistaken for a dormant volcano. It owes its distinctive shape, however, to the erosion-resistant metamorphosed deep-sea sedimentary deposit from which its quartzite composition was derived.

Great Sugar Loaf (48773930968)

View to the coast from the summit.

Great and Little Sugarloaf Mountains, County Wicklow, Ireland - geograph.org.uk - 2534036

Great and Little Sugarloaf Mountains, County Wicklow, Ireland

Great Sugar Loaf (48774549992)

Approaching the summit

Track up to the summit of the Great Sugar Loaf, near Kilmurry, Co. Wicklow - geograph.org.uk - 4073147

Track up to the summit of the Great Sugar Loaf, near Kilmurry, Co. Wicklow

Great Sugar Loaf from Djouce - geograph.org.uk - 128764

Great Sugar Loaf from Djouce

GPS Files

GPX File

Great Sugar Loaf.gpx (On Desktop:Right Click>Save As. On Ipad/Iphone:Click and hold>Download Linked File)