First pick
Abbey Graveyard
Park or garden
0.2 ha
Centralin the middle of Arklow
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Malone0 · CC BY-SA 4.089%near a park
Outdoors in Arklow · parks, paths & countryside
Arklow is on the coast
The sea makes up 34% of the area within 5 km. 7 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Arklow, among them the Arklow Loops Glenart Walk and Arklow Loops Monument Walk. Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 22 km away.
Near a park
89%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
2.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
14 km
0.7 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
0.3%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Buckroney-Brittas Dunes and Fen SAC
Woodland
5.7%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
The sea
34%
of the area within 5 km
A coastal town
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Arklow?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
On the coast34% of the area within 5 km is sea.Few mapped footpaths0.7 km of path per km²; the typical Irish town has 2.1.
Arklow’s strongest suit is the sea. Where it falls short is footpaths.
Against other towns
How Arklow 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 walk89%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
44out of 100
Public green space2.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
30out of 100
Footpaths0.7 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
20out of 100
Protected for nature0.3%of the land within 5 km
33out of 100
Woodland5.7%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
79out of 100
The sea34%of the area within 5 km
91out 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
Arklow has the 5th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (11,517 to 15,588 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Tallaght (8.8 km per km²) to Enniscorthy (0.4 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Arklow0.7
Towns its size4.3
Co. Wicklow towns1.2
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Arklow2.4
Towns its size4.1
Co. Wicklow towns1.5
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Arklow89%
Towns its size96%
Co. Wicklow towns75%
Typical Irish town92%
Arklow falls furthest behind on path per km², where 35 of the 39 others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tallaght Dublin | 8.8 | 3.8% | 0.6% | – |
| 2 | Cabra East Dublin | 8 | 2.2% | 0% | – |
| 3 | Deansrath Dublin | 7.9 | 2.2% | 0% | – |
| 4 | Phibsborough Dublin | 7.6 | 0.4% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Ballyowen Dublin | 7.5 | 6% | 0% | – |
| 6 | Kilnamanagh Dublin | 7.4 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 7 | Fettercairn Dublin | 7 | 3.5% | 0.4% | – |
| 8 | Firhouse Dublin | 6.8 | 4.4% | 4.2% | – |
| 9 | Ballsbridge Dublin | 6.3 | 1.3% | 1.2% | 18% |
| 10 | Ballygall Dublin | 6.3 | 1.4% | 0% | – |
| 11 | Ashtown Dublin | 6.3 | 6.9% | 0% | – |
| 12 | Summerhill Dublin | 6 | 0.4% | 0.2% | 8.5% |
| 13 | Clonskeagh Dublin | 6 | 2.7% | 0.1% | 16% |
| 14 | Foxrock Dublin | 5.8 | 5.3% | 0.2% | 25% |
| 15 | Knocklyon Dublin | 5.8 | 4.7% | 3.2% | – |
| 16 | Finglas South Dublin | 5.6 | 1.7% | 0% | – |
| 17 | Whitehall Dublin | 5.6 | 2.6% | 0.3% | – |
| 18 | Sallynoggin Dublin | 5 | 2% | 0.3% | 47% |
| 19 | Blackrock Dublin | 4.7 | 1.4% | 0.2% | 30% |
| 20 | Kimmage Dublin | 4.3 | 0.1% | 0% | – |
| 21 | Ongar Dublin | 4.2 | 2.7% | 0.2% | – |
| 22 | Belmayne Dublin | 3.8 | 1.9% | 5.2% | 25% |
| 23 | Mahon Cork | 3.6 | 6.1% | 5.3% | – |
| 24 | Hollystown Dublin | 3.3 | 2% | 0% | – |
| 25 | Clontarf West Dublin | 3.2 | 2.2% | 3.5% | 17% |
| 26 | Bishopstown Cork | 3.2 | 6% | 0.2% | – |
| 27 | Corbally and King's Island Limerick | 3 | 3.7% | 9.5% | – |
| 28 | Darndale Dublin | 2.7 | 1.9% | 3.7% | 11% |
| 29 | Castletroy Limerick | 2.4 | 1.8% | 6.6% | – |
| 30 | Midleton Cork | 1.6 | 2.6% | 4.5% | – |
| 31 | Ballybane Galway | 1.5 | 3.9% | 12% | 15% |
| 32 | Killarney Kerry | 1.3 | 14% | 34% | – |
| 33 | Wicklow Wicklow | 1.1 | 0.9% | 4.3% | 38% |
| 34 | Castlebar Mayo | 1 | 3.1% | 2.3% | – |
| 35 | Cobh Cork | 0.8 | 3.5% | 13% | 23% |
| 36 | Arklow Wicklow | 0.7 | 5.7% | 0.3% | 34% |
| 37 | Gorey Wexford | 0.7 | 3.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 38 | Cavan Cavan | 0.6 | 6.7% | 5.1% | – |
| 39 | Mallow Cork | 0.6 | 5.1% | 3.2% | – |
| 40 | Enniscorthy Wexford | 0.4 | 6.9% | 2.1% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Arklow’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 Arklow
The biggest is Abbey Graveyard, 0.2 ha (1 acres).
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
9 in 10 Arklow 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 (89%)Further (11%)
Arklow89%
Co. Wicklow towns75%
Typical Irish town92%
About 1,500 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
Buckroney-Brittas Dunes and Fen SAC is the nearest protected area, 3.1 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 Arklow0%
Within 5 km0.3%
Co. Wicklow towns3.9%
Typical Irish town1.8%
One protected site lies within 5 km of Arklow. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 5.6% 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.
Buckroney-Brittas Dunes and Fen SACSpecial Area of Conservation · 4.9 km² · 3.1 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 22 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
22 km north-west223 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
14 km of footpaths cross Arklow
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
14 km
over 21.2 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
5.7%
about 1.2 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
7
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
ArklowCo. Wicklow townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths0.7
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
ArklowCo. Wicklow townsTypical Irish town
Woodland5.7%
0%50%100%
Arklow has less footpath per km² than 80% of Irish towns and more woodland than 79% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
7 waymarked trails start near Arklow
14 km of footpaths are mapped in Arklow and the kilometre around it, 0.7 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Walking trail
Arklow Loops Glenart Walk9.9 km
Arklow Loops Monument Walk6.5 km
Arklow Loops South Beach Walk5.7 km
Arklow Loops Love Lane Walk4.5 km
Arklow Loops Town Walk4.3 km
Arklow Loops Kynoch Walk3.3 km
Glenart Wood Walk3.7 km
For a shorter walk, the Arklow Loops Glenart Walk is 9.9 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 Arklow: 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) | 8.1 | 9.8 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.4 | 14.7 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.6 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 93 | 73 | 69 | 68 | 64 | 71 | 68 | 81 | 79 | 107 | 118 | 104 |
May is the driest month (64 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.6 hours of daylight in December, and 118 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Arklow →
The coast
The coast and bathing waters near Arklow
34% of the area within 5 km of Arklow is sea. One bathing water is within 5 km.
CloggaExcellent (2025) · 2.4 km from town
beaches.ieOne of the 1 is rated excellent: Clogga.
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
1 hill or peak and 5 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
Hills and peaks 1
Arklow Rock1.5 km from town
DirectionsPlaygrounds 5
Seaview Avenue Playgroundin town
DirectionsSouth Green Playgroundin town
DirectionsPlus 3 playgrounds 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 Arklow
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
National Botanic Gardens - KilmacurraghGarden · 13 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Arklow
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
AughrimRathdrumGoreyCourtownArklow
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
None of the neighbours has many more of its people near a park than Arklow.
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 Arklow
What is the biggest park in Arklow?
Abbey Graveyard, 0.2 ha (1 acres). Saint Mary's Park (0.1 ha) is second. 2 named parks, gardens and playing fields are in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Arklow?
One protected site lies within 5 km, though it covers under 1% of the land. The nearest is Buckroney-Brittas Dunes and Fen SAC, 3.1 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Arklow?
7 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Arklow Loops Glenart Walk, Arklow Loops Monument Walk and Arklow Loops South Beach Walk.
Where can you swim near Arklow?
The nearest bathing water is Clogga, 2.4 km from town: Excellent (2025). Check beaches.ie before swimming: a notice can close a beach for the day.
How many people in Arklow live near a park?
89% 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 Arklow?
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 Arklow near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 22 km north-west of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Arklow?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 1 hill or peak; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Arklow’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
- Bathing water. EPA: bathing water quality, 2025 season
- 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).