First pick
Devil's Glen Wood
Wood or forest
351 ha17.2 km of path
3 h 50 minto walk all 17.2 km of path
2.6 km north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: Sarah777 at English Wikipedia · Public domain68%near a park
Outdoors in Ashford · parks, paths & countryside
Woods cover more of Ashford than of 9 in 10 Irish towns
Mapped woodland takes up 11% of Ashford and the kilometre around it. 2 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Ashford, among them the The Devil's Glen - Waterfall Walk and The Devil's Glen - Seamus Heaney Walk. A park or playing field is within a 5-minute walk for 68% of residents.
Near a park
68%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
6.4 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
10 km
0.8 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
3.4%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: The Murrough cSPA
Woodland
11%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
The sea
6.1%
of the area within 5 km
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Ashford?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Wooded country11% mapped woodland in and around town, more than 95% of Irish towns.Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 10 km west.Parks can be a walk away32% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Ashford’s strongest suit is its woods, followed by Wicklow Mountains National Park close by. Where it falls short is how far some homes are from a park.
Against other towns
How Ashford 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 walk68%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
18out of 100
Public green space6.4 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
66out of 100
Footpaths0.8 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
25out of 100
Protected for nature3.4%of the land within 5 km
60out of 100
Woodland11%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
96out of 100
The sea6.1%of the area within 5 km
70out 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
Ashford has the 19th most footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (1,892 to 3,141 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From Ballybrack (8.6 km per km²) to Sixmilebridge (0 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Ashford0.8
Towns its size0.7
Co. Wicklow towns1.2
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Ashford6.4
Towns its size4.1
Co. Wicklow towns1.5
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Ashford68%
Towns its size83%
Co. Wicklow towns75%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Ashford stands out most for park space per resident: only 13 of the other 39 have more. It falls furthest behind on homes near a park, where 28 of the others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ballybrack Dublin | 8.6 | 8% | 0.2% | 36% |
| 2 | Sunday's Well Cork | 7.3 | 2.7% | 0.4% | – |
| 3 | Blackpool Cork | 6.6 | 3% | 1.4% | – |
| 4 | Carna Dublin | 5.4 | 1.7% | 0% | – |
| 5 | Taylor's Hill Galway | 5.1 | 1.2% | 15% | 37% |
| 6 | Togher Cork | 5 | 1.5% | 0.5% | – |
| 7 | Decies Dublin | 4.8 | 7.2% | 0% | – |
| 8 | Mayfield Cork | 4.7 | 5.3% | 3.3% | – |
| 9 | Kylemore Dublin | 4 | 3% | 0% | – |
| 10 | Edenmore Dublin | 2.8 | 3.6% | 5.9% | 24% |
| 11 | Ballynanty Limerick | 2.5 | 5.7% | 12% | – |
| 12 | Claddagh Galway | 2.4 | 0.2% | 17% | 46% |
| 13 | Murrough Galway | 2.3 | 5.1% | 10% | 26% |
| 14 | Grange Upper Waterford | 1.4 | 1.5% | 6.6% | – |
| 15 | Blarney Cork | 1.4 | 14% | 0% | – |
| 16 | Kilbarry Waterford | 1.3 | 1.6% | 5.1% | – |
| 17 | Bantry Cork | 1 | 4.4% | 0% | 18% |
| 18 | Ballina Tipperary | 0.9 | 1.8% | 4.7% | – |
| 19 | Ashford Wicklow | 0.8 | 11% | 3.4% | 6.1% |
| 20 | Moate Westmeath | 0.7 | 2.4% | 2.4% | – |
| 21 | Callan Kilkenny | 0.7 | 0.1% | 2.3% | – |
| 22 | Kingscourt Cavan | 0.7 | 12% | 0% | – |
| 23 | Kenmare Kerry | 0.6 | 7.2% | 6.5% | 6.4% |
| 24 | Athboy Meath | 0.6 | 1.1% | 1.5% | – |
| 25 | Bundoran Donegal | 0.5 | 2% | 5.1% | 35% |
| 26 | Muinebeag (Bagenalstown) Carlow | 0.5 | 3.9% | 2.9% | – |
| 27 | Skibbereen Cork | 0.5 | 1.7% | 1.6% | – |
| 28 | Kinnegad Westmeath | 0.3 | 4.5% | 4.5% | – |
| 29 | Donegal Donegal | 0.3 | 4% | 4.1% | 12% |
| 30 | Boyle Roscommon | 0.3 | 3.2% | 0% | – |
| 31 | Bailieborough Cavan | 0.3 | 10% | 0% | – |
| 32 | Castleisland Kerry | 0.3 | 1.7% | 12% | – |
| 33 | Kanturk Cork | 0.3 | 0% | 5.1% | – |
| 34 | Baltinglass Wicklow | 0.2 | 4.9% | 0.5% | – |
| 35 | Ballyhaunis Mayo | 0.2 | 2.8% | 3.4% | – |
| 36 | Kilrush Clare | 0.2 | 9.8% | 37% | – |
| 37 | Ballyjamesduff Cavan | 0.2 | 7.6% | 0% | – |
| 38 | Gort Galway | 0.2 | 4.3% | 24% | – |
| 39 | Carndonagh Donegal | 0.1 | 4.9% | 5.1% | 5.8% |
| 40 | Sixmilebridge Clare | 0 | 0.7% | 2% | – |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Ashford’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 Ashford
The biggest is Devil's Glen Wood, 351 ha (867 acres).
Mount Usher Gardens
Park or garden
8.6 ha4.5 km of path
1 hto walk all 4.5 km of path
0.9 km eastfrom the centre
Top PathRiviera WalkContra Riviera Walk+3 paths
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 Ashford 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 (68%)Further (32%)
Ashford68%
Co. Wicklow towns75%
Typical Irish town92%
About 600 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
3.4% of the land around Ashford 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 Ashford0%
Within 5 km3.4%
Co. Wicklow towns3.9%
Typical Irish town1.8%
2 protected sites lie within 5 km of Ashford. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 7.3% 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 10 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
10 km 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
10 km of footpaths cross Ashford
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
9.6 km
over 11.6 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
11%
about 1.3 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
2
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
AshfordCo. Wicklow townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths0.8
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
AshfordCo. Wicklow townsTypical Irish town
Woodland11%
0%50%100%
Ashford has less footpath per km² than 75% of Irish towns and more woodland than 96% 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 Ashford
10 km of footpaths are mapped in Ashford and the kilometre around it, 0.8 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Walking trail
The Devil's Glen - Waterfall Walk4.4 km
The Devil's Glen - Seamus Heaney Walk3.8 km
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 Ashford: 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 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 109 | 82 | 80 | 76 | 71 | 73 | 64 | 78 | 84 | 122 | 134 | 115 |
July is the driest month (64 mm) and the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.6 hours of daylight in December, and 134 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Ashford →
The coast
Ashford is near the sea
6.1% of the area within 5 km of Ashford 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
1 viewpoint and 1 hill or peak
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.
Hills and peaks 1
Plus 1 peak without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 1
Plus 1 picnic site without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 2
Plus 2 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
3 gardens and nature sites to visit near Ashford
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
Mount Usher GardensGarden · In Ashford
Its pageThe Dower House GardensGarden · 1.1 km from town
Its pageWren’s Wood GardenGarden · 4.3 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Ashford
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
RathnewWicklowNewcastleNewtownmountkennedyKilcooleKilpedderAshford
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
In Rathnew, 93% 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 Ashford
What is the biggest park in Ashford?
Mount Usher Gardens, 8.6 ha (21 acres). Ashford Park (0.5 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 Ashford?
Yes: 3.4% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 2 sites. The nearest is The Murrough cSPA, 2.4 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Ashford?
2 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the The Devil's Glen - Waterfall Walk and The Devil's Glen - Seamus Heaney Walk.
How many people in Ashford live near a park?
68% 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 Ashford?
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 Ashford near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 10 km west of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Ashford?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 1 viewpoint, 1 hill or peak and 1 picnic site; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Ashford’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
- 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).