Glen of the Downs Nature Reserve

Fifty-nine hectares of sessile oak on the steep sides of a valley in north Wicklow, protected as a State nature reserve since 1980. Holly grows under the oak, and woodrush, bilberry and heather carpet the ground. The National Parks and Wildlife Service calls it a very good example of the drier oak woodland that grows on Wicklow’s acid soils, and it is the finest wood of its type this close to Dublin.

Trails leave from the car park on the eastern side of the valley and climb through the trees. Wicklow County Tourism carries the trail detail. Free to walk.