First pick
Griffeen Valley Park
Park or garden
27 ha6.8 km of path
1 h 30 minto walk all 6.8 km of path
Centralin the middle of Esker
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Sheila1988 · CC BY-SA 4.098%near a park
Outdoors in Esker · parks, paths & countryside
Esker has more footpath per square kilometre than 9 in 10 Irish towns
164 km of footpaths run through the neighbourhood and the kilometre around it, 10.5 for every square kilometre. Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 11 km away. 3 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Esker, among them the Grand Canal Way and National Famine Way.
Near a park
98%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
5.0 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
164 km
10.5 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
0.1%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Rye Water Valley/Carton SAC
Woodland
2.1%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors neighbourhood is Esker?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
A neighbourhood of footpaths10.5 km of path per km², more than 99% of Irish towns. The typical town has 2.1.A park on every doorstep98% of residents live within 400 m of a park or playing field.Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 11 km south.On a long-distance trailThe Grand Canal Way passes through.
Esker’s strongest suit is dense footpaths, followed by parks close to every home.
Against other towns
How Esker compares with Irish towns
Each figure against Ireland’s 321 towns and city neighbourhoods of 2,500+ (city hubs left out): the marked bar is the town’s, the line the median. Ireland has no Outdoors Grade yet: the figures are described, each against other Irish towns, and none of them counts towards the overall grade.
A park within a walk98%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
63out of 100
Public green space5.0 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
59out of 100
Footpaths10.5 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
100out of 100
Protected for nature0.1%of the land within 5 km
25out of 100
Woodland2.1%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
41out of 100
Parks, paths and woods: OpenStreetMap; residents: CSO Census 2022 Small Areas; protected sites: NPWS; sea: CSO and ONS land outlines. A 0 means nothing is mapped.
Towns its size
Esker has the most footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (15,907 to 22,869 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Esker (10.5 km per km²) to Letterkenny (0.7 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Esker10.5
Towns its size3.9
Co. Dublin towns5.4
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Esker5.0
Towns its size4.1
Co. Dublin towns7.6
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Esker98%
Towns its size97%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Esker stands out most for path per km²: none of the other 39 has more.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esker Dublin | 10.5 | 2.1% | 0.1% | – |
| 2 | Old Bawn Dublin | 8.5 | 3% | 1.8% | – |
| 3 | Dolphins Barn Dublin | 8.4 | 2.9% | 0% | – |
| 4 | Stoneybatter Dublin | 7.5 | 1.6% | 0% | – |
| 5 | The Liberties Dublin | 7.4 | 0.5% | 0% | – |
| 6 | Carpenterstown Dublin | 7.3 | 11% | 0% | – |
| 7 | Mulhuddart Dublin | 6.6 | 4% | 0% | – |
| 8 | Stillorgan Dublin | 6.5 | 3% | 0.1% | 17% |
| 9 | Ballymun Dublin | 6.5 | 2.6% | 0% | – |
| 10 | Clonsilla Dublin | 6.4 | 3% | 0.1% | – |
| 11 | Ballinteer Dublin | 6.2 | 7.1% | 2.8% | – |
| 12 | Dundrum Dublin | 6.2 | 4.7% | 1.3% | 6.7% |
| 13 | Rathmines West Dublin | 6 | 1.7% | 0.1% | 5.8% |
| 14 | Rathmines East Dublin | 5.9 | 2.3% | 0.1% | 13% |
| 15 | Rathfarnham Dublin | 5.5 | 4.8% | 0.1% | – |
| 16 | Crumlin Dublin | 5.4 | 0.8% | 0% | – |
| 17 | Templeogue Dublin | 5.2 | 3.8% | 0.1% | – |
| 18 | Clondalkin Dublin | 4.6 | 3.3% | 0% | – |
| 19 | Stepaside Dublin | 4.3 | 15% | 6.4% | 5.9% |
| 20 | East Wall Dublin | 4.1 | 1% | 3.5% | 27% |
| 21 | Maynooth Kildare | 3.7 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 22 | Sandymount Dublin | 3.6 | 1.2% | 3.6% | 35% |
| 23 | Leixlip Kildare | 3.6 | 7.7% | 0.5% | – |
| 24 | Clontarf East Dublin | 3.1 | 3% | 6.1% | 38% |
| 25 | Dún Laoghaire Dublin | 3 | 0.5% | 0.3% | 56% |
| 26 | Beaumont Dublin | 2.9 | 2% | 3.4% | 9.7% |
| 27 | Celbridge Kildare | 2.4 | 6.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 28 | Malahide Dublin | 2.4 | 3.4% | 2.1% | 32% |
| 29 | Greystones-Delgany Wicklow | 2.2 | 11% | 5% | 35% |
| 30 | Douglas Cork | 1.7 | 4.6% | 5% | – |
| 31 | Knocknacarra Galway | 1.6 | 3.4% | 32% | 34% |
| 32 | Ballincollig Cork | 1.3 | 8.4% | 0% | – |
| 33 | Athlone Westmeath | 1.3 | 6.1% | 14% | – |
| 34 | Sligo Sligo | 1.2 | 6.1% | 9.5% | 18% |
| 35 | Clonmel Tipperary | 1.1 | 14% | 3.9% | – |
| 36 | Wexford Wexford | 1.1 | 3.8% | 13% | 22% |
| 37 | Dooradoyle Limerick | 1 | 2.6% | 7.7% | – |
| 38 | Carrigaline Cork | 0.9 | 6.5% | 0.2% | 6.7% |
| 39 | Mullingar Westmeath | 0.8 | 8.9% | 3.3% | – |
| 40 | Letterkenny Donegal | 0.7 | 4.9% | 4.3% | 5.3% |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Esker’s neighbourhood.
Green: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces and woods, named or not.© OpenStreetMap contributors · NPWS · Sport Ireland · CSO
Places to walk
Parks to walk in, in and around Esker
The biggest is Griffeen Valley Park, 27 ha (66 acres).
All 5 named parks and woods by size: 56 ha (138 acres) and 14 km of path
Parks & gardens 56 ha
The two biggest, Griffeen Valley Park and Balgaddy Park, are 73% of the named green space and carry 9 km of path between them.
Balgaddy Park
Park or garden
14 ha2.5 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.5 km of path
1.7 km eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Tandy's Park
Park or garden · 200 m outside town
7.4 ha2.5 km of path
35 minto walk all 2.5 km of path
1.6 km westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Willsbrook Park
Park or garden · 300 m outside town
7.0 ha1.8 km of path
25 minto walk all 1.8 km of path
1.4 km northfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Named parks, gardens, commons and woods in the town or within 400 m of it, from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL); pieces of one name that touch are one place. Sizes are the whole site; directions go to a point inside.
Close to home
Almost everyone in Esker lives within a 5-minute walk of a park
Each square is 1 in 100 residents: green lives within 400 m of a public park, garden or playing field (CSO Census 2022 Small Areas against OpenStreetMap).
Within 400 m (98%)Further (2.2%)
Esker98%
Co. Dublin towns100%
Typical Irish town92%
About 400 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
Rye Water Valley/Carton SAC is the nearest protected area, 3.2 km away
Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas and Natural Heritage Areas designated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, within 5 km of the town’s edge.
Inside Esker0%
Within 5 km0.1%
Co. Dublin towns0.2%
Typical Irish town1.8%
One protected site lies within 5 km of Esker. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 2.4% of the land within 5 km as well; many have been proposed since 1995 and aren’t counted here. Ireland’s National Parks have a block of their own on this page; much of their land also lies inside these sites.
Rye Water Valley/Carton SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 0.7 km² · 3.2 km from the edge
NPWS pageProtected sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service designated site boundaries (CC BY 4.0), 2026; land within 5 km from CSO Small Areas and, over the border, ONS. Overlapping sites are counted once.
National Parks
Wicklow Mountains National Park is 11 km away
Ireland’s National Parks within 100 km, and the nearest always, by direction and distance from the town’s edge; circle size shows each park’s area.
National ParkThe 5 km around the town
National Park
Wicklow Mountains National Park
11 km south223 km²
National Park boundaries: National Parks and Wildlife Service, generalised to 50 m (CC BY 4.0, © Government of Ireland), 2022. Distances from the town’s outline (CSO Small Areas).
Footpaths and woods
Footpaths and woods in and around Esker
Footways that aren’t pavements, paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, and mapped woods and forest, in the town and 1 km around it, each beside the county’s and Ireland’s typical town of 2,500+.
Footpaths
164 km
over 15.6 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
2.1%
about 0.3 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
3
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
EskerCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths10.5
06.513 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
EskerCo. Dublin townsTypical Irish town
Woodland2.1%
0%50%100%
Esker has more footpath per km² than 100% of Irish towns and less woodland than 59% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
Esker is on the Grand Canal Way
164 km of footpaths are mapped in Esker and the kilometre around it, 10.5 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Long-distance way
Grand Canal Way117.1 km
National Famine Way168.6 km
Royal Canal Way146.3 km
The Grand Canal Way (117 km end to end) passes through Esker.
2 more waymarked walks on OpenStreetMap
LocalOther waymarked
Griffeen Valley Walk1.1 km
Sli Na Sláinte Leixlip Lucan Desmense0.5 km
Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0), registered trails within 5 km; footpaths: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). More waymarked walks: OpenStreetMap route relations (ODbL) within 2 km, those already on the register left out. Coillte’s own forest trails and recreation sites aren’t included: Coillte’s terms limit its data to research or private study. Its trails on the National Trails Register are listed.
When to get out
The best walking months in Esker: May to September
Met Éireann’s 1991–2020 averages for the town’s 1 km square and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 15 to 30 °C and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.0 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 17.0 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 7.5 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 64 | 57 | 53 | 55 | 57 | 65 | 63 | 72 | 65 | 81 | 86 | 78 |
March is the driest month (53 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.5 hours of daylight in December, and 86 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Esker →
Things to do
1 viewpoint and 33 playgrounds
Mapped on OpenStreetMap in the town and 2 km around it; each count per resident beside Irish towns’ typical town of 2,500+. Beaches are on the coast’s list, from the EPA.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 1
Plus 1 viewpoint without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 33
Tandy's Playground0.6 km from town
DirectionsPlay Train1.0 km from town
DirectionsPlus 31 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Dog parks 1
Dog runin town
DirectionsSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
A garden or nature site to visit near Esker
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Saint Stephen's GreenGarden · 10 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Esker
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
BallyowenLucanDeansrathRonanstownPalmerstonClondalkinEsker
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
| Town | Near a park | Green space, ha per 1,000 | Paths (km/km²) | Protected within 5 km |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esker | 98% | 5.0 | 10.5 | 0.1% |
| Ballyowen 1.5 km | 100% | 5.3 | 7.5 | 0% |
| Lucan 1.6 km | 96% | 9.9 | 6.8 | 0.2% |
| Deansrath 2.0 km | 93% | 13.8 | 7.9 | 0% |
| Ronanstown 2.6 km | 85% | 6.3 | 6.6 | 0% |
| Palmerston 3.7 km | 94% | 78.1 | 6.9 | 0% |
| Clondalkin 4.0 km | 95% | 9.7 | 4.6 | 0% |
None of the neighbours has many more of its people near a park than Esker. Deansrath and Palmerston have at least twice Esker’s green space per resident.
How to read these numbers
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Green space nearby. The share of residents (CSO Small Areas, by where people live) within 400 m of a park, garden, common or playing field mapped on OpenStreetMap. Mapping is uneven: a town whose parks nobody has mapped looks greyer than it is.
- Protected areas. Land in a Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area or Natural Heritage Area within 5 km, overlaps counted once. Protected for nature doesn’t always mean open to walkers.
- Footpaths and hiking routes. Footways that aren’t pavements, paths, bridleways, steps and tracks open on foot, in the town and 1 km around it, from OpenStreetMap. Trails are the registered ones within 5 km; a trail often follows mapped paths, so the two aren’t added.
- Woodland. Woods and forest as OpenStreetMap maps them, private and Coillte forests included: mapped cover, not access.
- No grade yet. Ireland’s grades don’t include the outdoors yet: these figures describe the town and stand beside the median Irish town.
Questions about the outdoors in Esker
What is the biggest park in Esker?
Griffeen Valley Park, 27 ha (66 acres). Balgaddy Park (14 ha) is second. 5 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the neighbourhood or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Esker?
One protected site lies within 5 km, though it covers under 1% of the land. The nearest is Rye Water Valley/Carton SAC, 3.2 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Esker?
3 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Grand Canal Way, National Famine Way and Royal Canal Way.
How many people in Esker live near a park?
98% of residents live within 400 m, about a 5-minute walk, of a park or playing field; in the typical Irish town it is 92%.
When is the best time of year for walking in Esker?
On the town’s 1991–2020 averages and its daylight: May to September, when days are long, highs reach 15 °C and rain is light for the place.
Is Esker near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 11 km south of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Esker?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 1 viewpoint and 1 picnic site; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Esker’s outdoors figures come from
- Parks, woods and paths. OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): parks, woods and footpaths, Geofabrik extract, October 2026
- Protected sites. National Parks and Wildlife Service: designated sites (SAC, SPA, NHA), 2026
- Trails. Sport Ireland: National Trails Register, 2026
- Residents. CSO: Census 2022 Small Areas (residents)
- National Parks. National Parks and Wildlife Service: National Park boundaries, generalised to 50 m (CC BY 4.0), 2022
- Things to do. OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL): viewpoints, hills, waterfalls, nature reserves, picnic sites, playgrounds, campsites and waymarked walks, Geofabrik extract, October 2026
- Weather. Met Éireann: 1991–2020 averages (Copyright Met Éireann)
Protected sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service (CC BY 4.0). Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0). Bathing water: EPA (CC BY 4.0). Parks, woods and paths: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Not on this page yet: Coillte’s forest trails (its terms) and bike routes.
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).