Throughout the spring and summertime, we always try to focus our hiking activity around mountainous hikes. As it’s now Autumn and quite a cold period in Ireland we are doing lower, less exposed hikes, essentially less dangerous hikes. We have exhausted all our local hiking areas and love trying to find new scenic walks.
Gina found Monicknew forest hike on the Coillte website, so we set off early on Sunday morning. The hike is a little over 1 hour away from our house but we got to visit the lovely Slieve Bloom mountains in Laois/Offaly again. We hiked the Slieve Blooms last year with Ourlittlehiker when we summited Arderin.
Driving down to Monicknew carpark the first thing that you spot is the narrow bridge which is just big enough for 1 car to pass. After the narrow bridge, we can see the carpark and the start of the hike on an elevated platform.
We are only looking for a nice gentle hike as Gina is 7 months pregnant and Ourlittlehiker loves to hike sections of all our walks now, so we were on the hunt for an easy Sunday hike.
Starting Monicknew Forest hike loop walk Laois
We got to Monicknew carpark nice and early, the sun was still very low and the area was still very quiet. When we were in the middle of the 32 peak challenge we became experts at getting out of the car and loading a baby into her hiking bag in minutes but we’ve become rusty and it took us considerably longer to pack our bags plus we forgot our spare hiking bag that carries Ourlittlehikers Toys and Snacks, We have become amateur baby hikers again, but luckily we didn’t forget the snacks, so that’s the most important thing, as it keeps both mammy and toddler happy on the hikes.
After we loaded our bags, we went to the information sign which is located at the rear of the carpark. We decided to hike the green loop walk which was only 3.5km long. The walk starts beside the sign and cuts up through the wood between a passage of mature pine trees. The trail then leads its way through smaller wood trails until we reached a larger lorry road leading upward.
Ourlittlehiker wanted to walk for the first section until we reached the larger forest road. Luckily for us, she still wants to be in her hiking bag and can now even ask to be put back into it. We loaded her into her hiking bag and started walking up the hill toward the top of the forest road. Experience has taught us as hiking parents, that when your child is happy in her hiking bag we need to cover ground quickly so we both increased our pace and made hay while the sun shines.
When we reached the top of the forest road it was the top of our hike, the hike now cuts through a very scenic little walking trail that passes over streams and provides nice views down the valley. After about 200m of small forest tails, we cut back out onto a large forest road. We got slightly lost here as there were no signs for the green loop, only a sign for the Slieve Bloom Way and it was pointing up the hill. We walked up the hill towards the Slieve Bloom way to get some nice views and pictures and then we continued back down the hill as we knew we were meant to be following the river back towards the carpark.
Unfortunately, halfway back down the road we encountered a sign saying that the road was closed, now at this point, we are 3/4 of the way around the loop, are we expected to turn around here? We could see that the road was closed because they were cutting down the forest but seeing as it was a Sunday we kept on walking as all the machines were parked up and everything looked safe to pass.
In future, it would be nice to have a sign on the information board stating that the road is closed or it is unsafe to hike in the area.
We walked back down to the Bridge and walked up the road toward the carpark. We decided to do a small section of the Yellow Looped walk before we went home. The Yellow walk brought us down underneath the road bridge which had a large arch and an amazing little green area underneath all the trees. We walked down the river until we reached a lovely little footbridge. We crossed the footbridge and walked over to the other side of the river and had a small picnic before we drove home. It was a great area for a picnic as there were loads of picnic tables scattered around the area.
Monicknew Forest Hike Conclusion
Monicknew Forest Hike started off a very nice walk because it cut through a nice forest footpath for a short period but it quickly turned into walking up a forest lorry road. At the top of the hike, there is a very pretty little area that is very scenic and provides lovely views of the Slieve blooms overhead and the valley below. The deforestation really put a downer on this walk for us but the Yellow loop is an amazing little family hike and ideal for kids. Ourlittlehiker was amazed by the river noise beside her little toddler feet and the sounds made by the cars passing overhead as we walked underneath the large arched bridge.
