Gougane Barra Forest walk, Walking in Ireland, Cork,

This is a nice off road path loop walk, with a 30 minute path climb, well worth a visit.
Walking time 1hr 45min off road path walk

From Ballingeary, travel 7 km on the R584 to Guagán crossroads, take a right and travel past the Oratory and Gougane Barra lake to the park entrance. From Bantry take the N71 to Ballylickey, turn right travel 25km to Guagán crossroads, take a left, travel past the lake and Oratory to the park.

The name Guagán Barra means 'Rock cleft of St. Finbar'. St Finbarr built his monastery on the lake island in the 6th century. There is an Oratory on the island close to the entrance of the Forest Park which is to this day a major site of worship.

Guagán Barra was developed as a forest park in the early 60's and was officially opened in 1966. It is unique in having a looped motor trail of almost 5 km with spectacular views of the deep valley and its walled sides. Walking in Guagán is an energetic undertaking but one can be assured that it is a rewarding experience. There are 6 different trails to whet the appetite of the walking enthusiast. These are of varying distances and degrees of difficulty. Each one has its own story to tell and show off the spectacular panoramas of mountain, valley, stream and lake.

The park and surrounding countryside boasts a rich diversity of plant, animal and bird life. Ling heather and Moor grasses are abundant on the slopes while rock faces are sometimes covered with Mosses, Lichens and primitive plants. A rare plant called Fox's Cabbage is to be found on rock faces near to mountain streams. This plant is one of the Hiberno-Lusitanian group whose distribution in Ireland is confined to small areas in the south west.

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