Wildirishwalks.ie is a blog dedicated to walking and hiking in Ireland. I’m not sure if we are one of the best Irish hiking blogs but we do try to offer something unique to readers.
For us, it’s in depth guides to various different hiking trails across the country. We like to get into the details of what you can expect to encounter out on the trail. People seem to like what we do here but we have been thinking that it is probably good to look at other different perspectives of hiking in Ireland.
The aim is to help you get as much information as possible about potential hikes in the Irish countryside. As such, we have come up with the Wild Irish Walks guide to the Best Irish Hiking Blogs. I obviously haven’t seen or read all of the hiking blogs that exist but the following listing are resources that I have come across and found interesting.
If you have any other hiking blogs that you think should make the list, please do let me know!
Tough Soles
Instagram: tough_soles
I started Wild Irish Walks shortly after completing the Wicklow Way. One of the websites I paid really close attention to in my preparation for this fantastic multi-day walking challenge was toughsoles.ie.
Ellie and Carl over at Tough Soles embarked on a project to hike all 42 of the National Way-Marked Trails in Ireland. Obviously, these guys know all about long distance hiking and provide a great overview of each of the trails. Tough Soles also incorporate some great video content into their website and YouTube pages.
Their current challenge is to summit the high point in each of the 32 counties in Ireland!
Mountain Mike
Instagram: mountain.mike_adventures
Mike is a video creator focusing on hiking and mountaineering. His YouTube videos incorporate hiking guides, trail descriptions and some pretty awe-inspiring imagery. The channel also has some helpful equipment reviews. With over 2,000 YouTube subscribers, Mike has a big reach with lots of his videos getting tens of thousands of views. Have a look and you will easily understand why!
Roz Purcell – The Hike Life
Instagram: rozannapurcell
What I like about Rozanna’s brand is the inspiration for hiking trails that she provides. Her thehikelife website gives a glimpse of this with lists of hikes based around a particular theme (e.g. best dog friendly hikes near Dublin). Rozanna can also be regularly seen in national publications offering advice on various walks from across the country.
The mission of The Hike Life is to create and grow a free hiking community. With over half a million followers on instagram, Rozanna is definitely doing just that.
The website also sells outdoor clothes and has a lovely “Switchback” section which specialises in second hand hiking gear.
Irish Road Trip
Instagram: Instaireland
Ok, so this is more of a holistic site for planning a holiday to Ireland. The website offers a county by county guide of cool things to do. For example, if I look at my own county of Westmeath (a.k.a the best county), there are four articles listed – one of them being a guide to walking in Mullaghmeen Forest (highly recommended by the way). Another article about “11 of the Best Things To Do In Athlone” has details of a couple of good walking trails (e.g., the Old Rail Trail between Mullingar and Athlone and the Shannon Banks Nature Trail).
What I really like about this site is the depth of articles they have about cool things to do in Ireland. They include many of the more well known walks in Ireland within this number. So well worth a browse.
Hiiker
Hiiker is an Irish App with a global reach. The App is a cool bit of tech that not only provides you with a trail map but also shows nearby amenities such as accommodation and campsites. The app has details of 20,000 routes worldwide with over a thousand for Ireland included in that number. There is a short description of each trail with reviews from other Hiiker users too.
Hiiker also has a blog section on its website with 50 or so articles on various routes throughout Ireland. The Hiiker model is to ask guest contributors to write these posts. I have even contributed myself with a piece on the Burren Way!
AllTrails
AllTrails is somewhat similar to Hiiker in that it is a trail mapping app/website. I use this site quite a lot when I am planning hikes. You can save your selected route and then bring it up on your phone when out on the trail. It’s a handy back-up to have. Again, similar to Hiiker, there is a comments section for every route which can often have useful information for walkers, for example, whether the terrain is mucky during the winter, what type of boots are needed etc.
I use Alltrails quite a lot in my walking and hiking around Ireland. I find it a very useful tool as I can see my location in real time overlaid onto the trail map itself. If you are interested in joining alltrails, please click here. There are free and premium options available. I would recommend starting out with the free version and seeing if you like it (note – I will get a small referral fee for every person that signs up using that link).
Guided Walks in Ireland
There are a large number of companies across Ireland that offer both guided and self-guided walks. Many of these businesses also have nice blog sections where they give details of the hikes they have on offer. These can be useful resources even if you don’t want to pay for their local knowledge of the trails. I can’t verify the quality of service that they offer so haven’t included these resources here. However, the vast majority of these operators are extremely reputable so I wouldn’t have any hesitation in using their services. I just don’t feel I can recommend them to my readers without first having experienced their product offerings.
More Blogs Out There
For now, this is a pretty concise listing of some of the best Irish hiking blogs that I have read and enjoyed. As noted above, if you feel there are any more great blogs out there, please do let me know and I can add to the list. You can contact me via wildirishwalks@gmail.com or through the wildirishwalks instagram page.
As always, happy hiking!