Check out this fabulous cycle route to Cromane from the Reeks District!
Leave the Lycra at home and enjoy this quiet area of the Reeks District. Lonely Planet agrees, having voted Cromane as one of its top 50 Secret Europe travel destinations in 2014.
Grab any bike for this one. Flat pedals and walking shoes will let you explore this patch of coastline. Taking the quiet Tullig road brings you to Cromane, a small rural fishing community based on a narrow spit jutting into the Atlantic between the Iveragh and Dingle Peninsulas.
The quiet, ocean-kissed road down to the spit is spectacular. The calming scent of sand and seaweed greets you as fresh Atlantic air fills your lungs. A mussel plant and various fishing trawlers and boats can be found at the tip of the spit. Park the bike and take a moment, as the deep blue waters envelop you, and the mighty Dingle Peninsula and Slieve Mish Mountains stretch out to the West.
Turning around, cycle back up the spit towards the mainland and stop at Jacks’ Coastguard Bar & Restaurant. Park the bikes at the adjoining public car park and go explore the beach to the West. It’s the perfect spot for exploring as you follow the craggy headland winding around boulders and rock pools.
You’ll get hungry and thirsty at some point and that’s when you should visit Jacks’. The seafood in Cromane is the freshest you will find given much of it is caught offshore here. Fed and watered you are not finished your day’s cycling just yet. Though if you want to stay by the fire in Jacks and ring a taxi, we understand.
Leaving Jacks’ and the sea behind you, take the next right at the junction beside the Mary, Star of the Sea RC church. Cycle along this narrow, quiet country road for 3.5km where you will round a corner at Dooks Golf Club and arrive at what locals call The Bog Road. (Don’t worry if you miss this turn, as soon you’ll connect with the main Glenbeigh Ring of Kerry road at the picturesque Dooks Bridge. Left here brings you back to Killorglin.)
Follow this rolling Bog Road and soon you will have open views over Lake Yganavan with the ocean in the distance. The road cuts through an expanse of Cotton grass and wildflowers and the air is fresh. At the next crossroads take a left, where another quiet road brings you back onto the Tullig road you cycled earlier. Soon you’ll be back in Killorglin having enjoyed the sand, sea and seafood of the Reeks District.
There are a few tricky junctions but getting lost in this area only adds to the experience. komoot will keep you on the right track here.
