Glencar to Glenbeigh

The Kerry Way · Stage 3

13kmStage distance
352mMapped ascent
3Stage number

Along the Caragh River and through Lickeen Wood, then over the Windy Gap to Glenbeigh: 13.5 km, 4 to 6 hours. The optional round of Seefin adds 4.5 km and about 1½ hours; our line takes the Windy Gap.

Best season: April to September; no closures published. Neither Sport Ireland nor the official site publishes a walking season or a closure. The long stages need long days: in December there are under 8 hours of daylight, less than the 30 to 34 km stages take. The official site asks walkers to check the forecast, as the high passes, river crossings and lakesides are exposed in weather alerts, and Sport Ireland says the off-road sections are often very wet and muddy. Before you go

Glencar to Glenbeigh

Loading topographic map…
50m100m150m200m250m300m350m02 km4 km6 km8 km10 km12 km13.4 km322m30m
Flat (<5%) Gentle (5–10%) Moderate (10–15%) Steep (15–25%)
Green: Glencar to Glenbeigh. Grey: full trail. Elevation follows this mapped track.

Glencar to Glenbeigh

3 / 9
GPX

Where this stage starts and ends

Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 28 September 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.

Stage start

Glencar

Town

A scattered village below the Reeks, the stage starting at the post office. OpenStreetMap lists one place to stay, the Climber's Inn (with its camp site): confirm it is open when you book. There is almost no bus: Local Link runs here on Fridays (a morning bus) and on two Thursdays a month, so to get home from Glencar plan a taxi, or walk on to Glenbeigh for the daily 280.

OpenStreetMap lists at least 1 place to stay within about 1500 m (read 28 September 2026). TrailSplits has not checked which are open.

Stage end · overnight

Glenbeigh

Town

A village on the Ring of Kerry with places to stay and the daily Local Link 280 bus towards Killorglin and Killarney (some buses run through to Killarney).

OpenStreetMap lists at least 10 places to stay within about 800 m (read 28 September 2026). TrailSplits has not checked which are open.

Walking time for this leg

Make it your trip

Book the remote nights first

Every stage ends where there are places to stay, but OpenStreetMap lists only a few at Black Valley and Caherdaniel and one at Glencar, and no bus reaches Black Valley: book those nights first. Some of the Way crosses private land by its owners' permission: keep to the waymarked route, use the stiles and leave gates as you find them. Dogs are not permitted on the Kerry Way, Sport Ireland says, and camping is not allowed in Killarney National Park.

The loop from Killarney

The nine official stages, a night in each stage village.

Plan this journey

Killarney to Glenbeigh

The first three stages, past the Reeks to the coast, with a daily bus back from Glenbeigh.

Plan this journey

Waterville to Kenmare

The south coast in three stages, with the daily 281 bus at both ends.

Plan this journey

Weather this week

Loading the forecast for low point (27 m) and high point (332 m)…

Weather by month

Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (27 m) and the highest point (332 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.

Monthly climate averages and daylight
Month
WeatherMixedGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodGoodMixedMixedMixed
High point, day / night8°/3°8°/3°9°/3°11°/5°14°/7°16°/9°17°/11°17°/11°15°/10°13°/7°10°/5°8°/4°
Low point, day / night10°/4°10°/4°11°/5°13°/6°15°/8°17°/11°18°/12°18°/12°17°/11°14°/8°11°/6°10°/5°
Rain, mm217163148129126119134150144204239237
Snow at high point––––––––––––
Daylight8 h 149 h 5411 h 4613 h 5015 h 3816 h 4216 h 1914 h 4412 h 4510 h 468 h 527 h 47

Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.

Before you go

Prepare for the Kerry Way

Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.

Weather, bog and passes

Check the forecast before each stage: the official site warns that mountainous and remote areas are more dangerous and exposed in weather alerts, especially near the high passes, river crossings and lakesides. The off-road sections are often wet and muddy, and some moorland is very isolated. The lakeside path from Derrycunnihy into the Black Valley floods at times.

The Kerry Way: the route

Ticks and midges

Use insect repellent, wear long sleeves and tuck your trousers into your socks: ticks and midges are about in the warmer months, and ticks can, rarely, carry Lyme disease.

The Kerry Way: things to know

Private land and dogs

The Way crosses farmland, forest and bog by the owners' permission, with many stiles and bog boards: keep to the waymarked route and leave gates as you find them. Dogs are not permitted on the Kerry Way.

Sport Ireland: the Kerry Way

Getting there

Connect your journey

Travel around Glencar to Glenbeigh.

Directions to this start Travel from this finish

Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.

To Killarney

Killarney has a railway station with 7 to 8 trains a day to Cork and Dublin, and a bus station by the Outlet Centre. The Way starts at the start of the Muckross Road, about 1.5 km (20 minutes) south of both.

The Kerry Way: transport

Buses along the Way

TFI Local Link Kerry runs the 280 every day between Waterville, Cahersiveen and Glenbeigh (some buses through to Killarney) and the 281 every day between Waterville, Caherdaniel, Sneem and Kenmare; Bus Éireann's 270 links Kenmare and Killarney. No bus reaches Black Valley; Glencar has Local Link buses on Fridays and on two Thursdays a month only.

The Kerry Way: transport

Take your trip with you

Offline maps

Prepare every day while you still have a connection, and test it offline before you set out.

Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.

  1. Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
  2. Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
  3. Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.

Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.

Route & sources

About this map

Sport Ireland gives 232.1 km in 9 days and about 5,300 m of climb; the official site's nine stage pages add up to about 202 km on the shorter options. The line here is the route on OpenStreetMap (relation 183744, planet of 27 September 2026), 202.8 km, walked anticlockwise from Killarney as the official stages run and cut at their start and finish points: Cahersiveen by its spur from Foilmore (walked in at the end of stage 4 and out again at the start of stage 5), the Windy Gap above Glenbeigh on stage 3 and the coast on stage 6 (its inland option crosses another Windy Gap, the highest point of the Way at 385 m). The times are the official site's.

Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 28 September 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.

The Kerry Way, official website: the route

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation

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