First pick
Glen Ding Wood
Wood or forest · 390 m outside town
12 ha
1.9 km north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: P L Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.059%near a park
Outdoors in Blessington · parks, paths & countryside
From Blessington, Slieveroe (332 m) is under 2 km away
Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 2.2 km away. 2 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Blessington, among them the Blessington Greenway and Lacken Mass Path. There are 1.1 ha of parks and playing fields for every 1,000 people in Blessington, against 4.1 in the typical Irish town.
Near a park
59%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
1.1 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
19 km
1.4 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
1.9%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Poulaphouca Reservoir SPA
Woodland
10%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Blessington?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 2.2 km south-east.Hills close bySlieveroe, 332 m, is within 2 km.Less park per person1.1 ha of parks and playing fields per 1,000 residents; the typical Irish town has 4.1.
Blessington’s strongest suit is Wicklow Mountains National Park close by, followed by the hills close by. Where it falls short is park space per person.
Against other towns
How Blessington 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 walk59%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
9out of 100
Public green space1.1 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
8out of 100
Footpaths1.4 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
41out of 100
Protected for nature1.9%of the land within 5 km
51out of 100
Woodland10%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
94out 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
Blessington has the 16th fewest footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (5,112 to 6,269 residents), by km of footpath per km². Hover for each one’s protected land and woods; click for its page.
From St Stephen's Green (7.4 km per km²) to Clonakilty (0.3 km per km²).
Footpath, km per km²
Blessington1.4
Towns its size1.8
Co. Wicklow towns1.2
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Blessington1.1
Towns its size4.3
Co. Wicklow towns1.5
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Blessington59%
Towns its size89%
Co. Wicklow towns75%
Typical Irish town92%
Blessington falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 33 of the 39 others do better.
Every town in the comparison
| Town | Paths (km/km²) | Woodland | Protected | The sea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | St Stephen's Green Dublin | 7.4 | 0.9% | 0.3% | 11% |
| 2 | Portobello Dublin | 7.2 | 1.2% | 0.1% | 8.8% |
| 3 | Gillabbey Cork | 7.1 | 2.6% | 0.5% | – |
| 4 | Glasheen Cork | 6.4 | 2.3% | 0.5% | – |
| 5 | Ballyboden Dublin | 5.9 | 4.3% | 0.5% | – |
| 6 | The Glen Cork | 5.7 | 4% | 1.8% | – |
| 7 | Edmondstown Dublin | 5.1 | 7.5% | 4.5% | – |
| 8 | Ballinlough Cork | 4.9 | 3.2% | 3.8% | – |
| 9 | Rathgar Dublin | 4.8 | 3.5% | 0.1% | – |
| 10 | Knocknaheeny Cork | 4.7 | 2.4% | 0.2% | – |
| 11 | Knockrea Cork | 4.7 | 3.1% | 3.7% | – |
| 12 | Inchicore Dublin | 4.5 | 3.9% | 0% | – |
| 13 | Ayrfield Dublin | 3.8 | 1.8% | 5.3% | 19% |
| 14 | Garryowen Limerick | 3.4 | 0.5% | 9.6% | – |
| 15 | Salthill Galway | 3.3 | 1% | 15% | 46% |
| 16 | Harmonstown Dublin | 3.2 | 3.8% | 5.3% | 23% |
| 17 | Galvone Limerick | 2.9 | 0.7% | 8.3% | – |
| 18 | Dock Limerick | 2.5 | 1.3% | 12% | – |
| 19 | Sutton Dublin | 2.5 | 0.7% | 12% | 48% |
| 20 | Lisduggan Waterford | 1.8 | 0% | 5.8% | – |
| 21 | Carrigtwohill Cork | 1.8 | 5.1% | 12% | – |
| 22 | Ballinfoile and Terryland Galway | 1.7 | 2.1% | 22% | 13% |
| 23 | Rathcoole Dublin | 1.6 | 2.4% | 0% | – |
| 24 | Sallins Kildare | 1.6 | 0.8% | 0% | – |
| 25 | Blessington Wicklow | 1.4 | 10% | 1.9% | – |
| 26 | Passage West-Monkstown Cork | 1.2 | 3.5% | 10% | 12% |
| 27 | Inishkenny Cork | 1.1 | 4.2% | 0.2% | – |
| 28 | Ballybeg Waterford | 1 | 1.2% | 4.1% | – |
| 29 | Ardee Louth | 0.9 | 0.7% | 0.8% | – |
| 30 | Kinsale Cork | 0.9 | 1.3% | 0% | 21% |
| 31 | Ferrybank Kilkenny | 0.8 | 4.1% | 6.6% | – |
| 32 | Monasterevin Kildare | 0.6 | 16% | 2% | – |
| 33 | Carrick-on-Suir Tipperary | 0.5 | 9.9% | 4% | – |
| 34 | Ballybofey-Stranorlar Donegal | 0.4 | 7.7% | 2.3% | – |
| 35 | Carrickmacross Monaghan | 0.3 | 5.5% | 0% | – |
| 36 | Tipperary Tipperary | 0.3 | 0.7% | 0.8% | – |
| 37 | Tullow Carlow | 0.3 | 0.4% | 1.7% | – |
| 38 | Roscrea Tipperary | 0.3 | 3.4% | 7.9% | – |
| 39 | Oranmore Galway | 0.3 | 2% | 5.2% | 13% |
| 40 | Clonakilty Cork | 0.3 | 1.8% | 3.3% | 7.1% |
The map
Parks, woods, footpaths & countryside
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it. The dashed line is Blessington’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 Blessington
The biggest is Glen Ding Wood, 12 ha (30 acres).
Deer Park Plantation
Wood or forest · 330 m outside town
7.1 ha0.1 km of path
1.5 km north-westfrom 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
6 in 10 Blessington 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 (59%)Further (41%)
Blessington59%
Co. Wicklow towns75%
Typical Irish town92%
About 2,300 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
Protected sites cover 1.9% of the land within 5 km of Blessington
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 Blessington0%
Within 5 km1.9%
Co. Wicklow towns3.9%
Typical Irish town1.8%
3 protected sites lie within 5 km of Blessington. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 1.9% 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 2.2 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
2.2 km south-east223 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
19 km of footpaths cross Blessington
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
19 km
over 13.6 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
10%
about 1.4 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
2
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
BlessingtonCo. Wicklow townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths1.4
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
BlessingtonCo. Wicklow townsTypical Irish town
Woodland10%
0%50%100%
Blessington has less footpath per km² than 59% of Irish towns and more woodland than 94% 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 Blessington
19 km of footpaths are mapped in Blessington and the kilometre around it, 1.4 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
GreenwayMountain access
Blessington Greenway6.5 km
Lacken Mass Path1.9 km
One more waymarked walk on OpenStreetMap
Other waymarked
Blessington to Hollywood Village2.6 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 Blessington: 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 | 9.7 | 11.7 | 13.9 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 16.5 | 14.8 | 12.6 | 10.5 | 8.5 | 7.6 |
| High (°C) | 7 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
| Rain (mm) | 86 | 76 | 69 | 65 | 65 | 74 | 74 | 83 | 82 | 106 | 110 | 100 |
May is the driest month (65 mm) and July the warmest (highs of 19 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.6 hours of daylight in December, and 110 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Blessington →
Things to do
3 hills and peaks 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.
The highest named top on the map is Slieveroe, at 332 m, 1.4 km from town.
Every named place, with directions
Hills and peaks 3
Slieveroe332 m · 1.4 km from town
DirectionsPlus 2 hills and peaks without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 5
Plus 5 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Slipways 1
Plus 1 slipway without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Next door
Next to Blessington
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
JohnstownKillNaasSallinsRathcooleSaggartBlessington
Under 1%1–10%10–25%25–50%50%+
In Naas, 91% of residents live within a 5-minute walk of a park, more than here. Johnstown, Kill and Rathcoole have at least twice Blessington’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 Blessington
What is the biggest park in Blessington?
Avon Arena, 0.2 ha (0 acres). Peter Finnegan 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 Blessington?
Yes: 1.9% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 3 sites. The nearest is Poulaphouca Reservoir SPA, 0.0 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Blessington?
2 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Blessington Greenway and Lacken Mass Path.
How many people in Blessington live near a park?
59% 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 Blessington?
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 Blessington near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 2.2 km south-east of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Blessington?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 3 hills and peaks; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Blessington’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).