First pick
Muirhevnamor District Park
Park or garden
7.1 ha2 km of path
25 minto walk all 2 km of path
0.7 km south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.074%near a park
Outdoors in Dundalk · parks, paths & countryside
Dundalk is on the coast
The sea makes up 23% of the area within 5 km. 2 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Dundalk, among them the Tain Way and Annaloughan Loop. Parks and playing fields in Dundalk add up to 1.9 ha for every 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1.
Near a park
74%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
1.9 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
80 km
1.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
3.6%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Dundalk Bay SPA
Woodland
1.7%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
The sea
23%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Dundalk?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast23% of the area within 5 km is sea.Protected land nearbyDundalk Bay SPA reaches the edge of Dundalk.Less park per person1.9 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1.
Dundalk’s strongest suit is the sea, followed by protected land close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Against other towns
How Dundalk 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 walk74%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
26out of 100
Public green space1.9 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
21out of 100
Footpaths1.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
41out of 100
Protected for nature3.6%of the land within 5 km
63out of 100
Woodland1.7%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
30out of 100
The sea23%of the area within 5 km
85out 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
Dundalk has the 13th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (18,626 to 44,135 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 Portlaoise (0.6 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Dundalk1.4
Towns its size2.5
Co. Louth towns1.0
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Dundalk1.9
Towns its size4.0
Co. Louth towns1.1
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Dundalk74%
Towns its size95%
Co. Louth towns74%
Typical Irish town92%
Dundalk falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 31 of the 39 others do better.
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 | Carpenterstown Dublin | 7.3 | 11% | 0% | – |
| 6 | Blanchardstown Dublin | 7 | 3.8% | 0% | – |
| 7 | Lucan Dublin | 6.8 | 7.3% | 0.2% | – |
| 8 | Mulhuddart Dublin | 6.6 | 4% | 0% | – |
| 9 | Ballymun Dublin | 6.5 | 2.6% | 0% | – |
| 10 | Clonsilla Dublin | 6.4 | 3% | 0.1% | – |
| 11 | Jobstown Dublin | 6.3 | 1.9% | 2.2% | – |
| 12 | Rathmines West Dublin | 6 | 1.7% | 0.1% | 5.8% |
| 13 | Crumlin Dublin | 5.4 | 0.8% | 0% | – |
| 14 | Clondalkin Dublin | 4.6 | 3.3% | 0% | – |
| 15 | Stepaside Dublin | 4.3 | 15% | 6.4% | 5.9% |
| 16 | Sandymount Dublin | 3.6 | 1.2% | 3.6% | 35% |
| 17 | Clontarf East Dublin | 3.1 | 3% | 6.1% | 38% |
| 18 | Kilkenny Kilkenny | 3.1 | 3.8% | 2.4% | – |
| 19 | Beaumont Dublin | 2.9 | 2% | 3.4% | 9.7% |
| 20 | Swords Dublin | 2.6 | 2.6% | 1.1% | – |
| 21 | Celbridge Kildare | 2.4 | 6.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 22 | Greystones-Delgany Wicklow | 2.2 | 11% | 5% | 35% |
| 23 | Bray Wicklow | 2.1 | 13% | 3.4% | 37% |
| 24 | Balbriggan Dublin | 2.1 | 1.6% | 0% | 37% |
| 25 | Naas Kildare | 1.9 | 1.4% | 0% | – |
| 26 | Navan Meath | 1.7 | 4.7% | 2.2% | – |
| 27 | Douglas Cork | 1.7 | 4.6% | 5% | – |
| 28 | Dundalk Louth | 1.4 | 1.7% | 3.6% | 23% |
| 29 | Ballincollig Cork | 1.3 | 8.4% | 0% | – |
| 30 | Athlone Westmeath | 1.3 | 6.1% | 14% | – |
| 31 | Sligo Sligo | 1.2 | 6.1% | 9.5% | 18% |
| 32 | Tralee Kerry | 1.1 | 2.4% | 21% | 6.4% |
| 33 | Wexford Wexford | 1.1 | 3.8% | 13% | 22% |
| 34 | Drogheda Louth | 1 | 1.8% | 3.8% | 5.5% |
| 35 | Carlow Carlow | 0.9 | 1.3% | 2% | – |
| 36 | Mullingar Westmeath | 0.8 | 8.9% | 3.3% | – |
| 37 | Ennis Clare | 0.7 | 9.6% | 7.8% | – |
| 38 | Letterkenny Donegal | 0.7 | 4.9% | 4.3% | 5.3% |
| 39 | Newbridge Kildare | 0.6 | 1.6% | 4.9% | – |
| 40 | Portlaoise Laois | 0.6 | 2.6% | 1.1% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Dundalk’s urban area.
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 Dundalk
The biggest is Muirhevnamor District Park, 7.1 ha (17 acres).
All 5 named parks and woods by size: 21 ha (53 acres) and 4 km of path
Parks & gardens 14 haWoods 7.5 ha
The two biggest, Muirhevnamor District Park and Ice House Hill Park, are 55% of the named green space and carry 4 km of path between them.
Ice House Hill Park
Park or garden
4.6 ha1.6 km of path
20 minto walk all 1.6 km of path
1.7 km north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Blackrock Park
Park or garden
2.2 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
3.6 km south-eastfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Broad Wood
Wood or forest · 180 m outside town
4.5 ha
4.6 km southfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Long Wood
Wood or forest · 290 m outside town
3.0 ha
4.8 km southfrom 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
7 in 10 Dundalk residents live 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 (74%)Further (26%)
Dundalk74%
Co. Louth towns74%
Typical Irish town92%
About 11,000 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
3.6% of the land around Dundalk is protected for nature
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 Dundalk1.1%
Within 5 km3.6%
Co. Louth towns3.6%
Typical Irish town1.8%
3 protected sites lie within 5 km of Dundalk. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 3.6% 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.
Protected 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 78 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
78 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
80 km of footpaths cross Dundalk
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
80 km
over 58.1 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
1.7%
about 1 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
2
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
DundalkCo. Louth townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths1.4
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
DundalkCo. Louth townsTypical Irish town
Woodland1.7%
0%50%100%
Dundalk has less footpath per km² than 59% of Irish towns and less woodland than 70% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
2 waymarked trails start near Dundalk
80 km of footpaths are mapped in Dundalk and the kilometre around it, 1.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Long-distance wayWalking trail
Tain Way40.3 km
Annaloughan Loop5.9 km
For a shorter walk, the Annaloughan Loop is 5.9 km, graded moderate.
Trails: Sport Ireland National Trails Register (CC BY 4.0), registered trails within 5 km; footpaths: OpenStreetMap (ODbL). 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 Dundalk: 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) | 7.9 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 14.0 | 15.9 | 17.1 | 16.6 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.4 | 8.4 | 7.4 |
| High (°C) | 8 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 79 | 64 | 61 | 56 | 57 | 63 | 70 | 75 | 68 | 84 | 90 | 84 |
April is the driest month (56 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.4 hours of daylight in December, and 90 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Dundalk →
The coast
The coast and bathing waters near Dundalk
23% of the area within 5 km of Dundalk is sea.
Bathing water classes: EPA, latest season (CC BY 4.0). Sea: the area outside CSO and ONS land outlines. Check today’s water quality on beaches.ie
Things to do
3 viewpoints and 2 hills and peaks
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.
3Viewpoints1.9× the typical Irish town, per resident2Hills and peaks11Playgrounds0.2× the typical Irish town, per resident2Slipways
Per resident, viewpoints stand out most: Dundalk has 1.9× as many as the typical Irish town.
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 3
Plus 3 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 11
Plus 11 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 2
Plus 2 slipways without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
A garden or nature site to visit near Dundalk
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Blackrock WetlandsNature site · In Dundalk
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Dundalk
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
DromiskinCastlebellingham-KilsaranCarlingfordArdeeDunleerDundalk
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk | 74% | 1.9 | 1.4 | 3.6% |
| Dromiskin 7.6 km | 100% | 1.5 | 0.2 | 2.8% |
| Castlebellingham-Kilsaran 11 km | 76% | 1.6 | 0.2 | 4.6% |
| Carlingford 15 km | 67% | 1.0 | 1.0 | 17% |
| Ardee 18 km | 49% | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.8% |
| Dunleer 18 km | 48% | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0% |
In Dromiskin, 100% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here.
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 Dundalk
What is the biggest park in Dundalk?
Muirhevnamor District Park, 7.1 ha (17 acres). Ice House Hill Park (4.6 ha) is second. 4 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Dundalk?
Yes: 3.6% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 3 sites. Dundalk Bay SPA reaches Dundalk.
What are the best walks near Dundalk?
2 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Tain Way and Annaloughan Loop.
How many people in Dundalk live near a park?
74% 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 Dundalk?
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 Dundalk near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 78 km south of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Dundalk?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 3 viewpoints and 2 hills and peaks; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Dundalk’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).