Glenbower Wood — Local services in The Municipal District of East Cork

Glenbower Wood is one of the best woodland trails that I have come across in Co. Cork and loacted just outside of Killeagh village. It really is a hidden gem! Its a great location to go for a walk, run or cycle and you would meet people from time to time running and cycling around! There are frequent benches along the trail and a number of bridges crossing the river that runs through the valley. Its very family friendly for children and a great place to bring pets with plenty of parking.

The Main Walking Loops: The main walking loop is a big loop roughly about 6km long. However, there are numerous little trails that you can loop back on the main trail and it can by reduced to 3km. The 6km loop takes about an hour and 20 minutes going at an easy pace. Some sections of the loops are made up of forest access roads and other sections are made up of gravelly pathways. Some sections of the loops are kind of steep, but for the most part most sections are level. The forest is made up of mixed woodland from evergreens to broadleaf trees. There are a couple of Giant Redwoods dotted along the wood which I find particularly interesting! There are also some sections of evergreen trees that are being grown for comercial timber use. Some active harvesting is currently going on since of the autumn in 2022 with some of the forest access roads being lined with harvested timber. Thus the areas surrounding the harvested trees can be muddy. Overall, I recommend exploring the various trails and the areas that they bring you through as some new trails have been erected that will bring you through and over the remains of the old damn and other structures that are in the valley.

Local Scenery: The forest is quite nice to take a leisurely trail trough. The scenery is made up of the meandering river, the valley sides and some old structures from when the valley had a old dam in it that used to feed an old waterwheel. Apparently there is an old tennis court from the 1800's hidden somewhere in the woods.

Wheelchair Users: Due to my lack of wheelchair experience I cannot say for certain is it possible to use a standard wheel chair here as its steep in sections and some of the bridges crossing the river are narrow and have steps leading up to them. I think some sort of sport wheelchair with gearing or an electric wheelchair could be suitable for here.

Playground: There is a playground out at the entrance of the walk. And it always seems to be busy with children and parents.

Dog Walkers: The wood is dog friendly and you can often meet friendly people walking their friendly dogs. Please be respectful and remove dog waste from the trail!

Carpark: There is a decently sized car park near the start of the walk and there is another carpark located out further towards the...

This is a great place for a walk. It has a number of interesting and historical trails, such as Fainin's  Well, and numerous walks alongside a multitude of freshwater  streams.   The forest was under  the  ownership of  the DeCapell family from 1182 until 1933, They were an Anglo-Norman family and lived at Aghadoe House. Believe it or not, the forest is home to Giant Redwood trees. These are native to California and have grown to a considerable size.

The forest is community owned, one of the very few in the country, and crowd funding has been used to successfully repair and maintain many parts of the forest. Plans are also underway to reinstate the seven-acre lake that once occupied the centre of the valley for almost 150 years before it was drained in the late 1980s because of safety issues.

A great resource for the people...

If you like a good walk with the dogs or kids or both these woods have some lovely trails. Plenty of trees, a river and lots of puddles. I had a great walk even though the weather was a bit gray. There is uphill and down hill walking either through the forest or stay on the paths through the forest. Plenty of bird song and wild flowers and plants. You could spend a few hours walking if you want. Have. Good pair of shoes or boots and wellies for the kids might help if they like jumping in the many puddles at this time...