First pick
Ballygannon Wood
Wood or forest · 130 m outside town
69 ha5.1 km of path
1 h 5 minto walk all 5.1 km of path
1.5 km north-westfrom the centre
Directionsto a point inside
Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.066%near a park
Outdoors in Rathdrum · parks, paths & countryside
Woods cover more of Rathdrum than of 10 in 10 Irish towns
Woods cover 19% of Rathdrum and the kilometre around it. Wicklow Mountains National Park begins 6.8 km away. 6 waymarked trails start within 5 km of Rathdrum, among them the Rathdrum - Jubilee Loop and Avonmore Way.
Near a park
66%
of residents within 400 m
Typical Irish town: 92%
Green space
2.7 ha
per 1,000 residents
Typical Irish town: 4.1 ha
Footpaths
16 km
1.3 km per km², town + 1 km
Typical Irish town: 2.1 km per km²
Protected for nature
3.8%
of the land within 5 km
Nearest: Vale of Clara (Rathdrum Wood) SAC
Woodland
19%
of the town and 1 km around it
Typical Irish town: 2.7%
Character
What kind of outdoors town is Rathdrum?
Read from the data: what stands out first, good and bad.
Wooded country19% mapped woodland in and around town, more than 99% of Irish towns.Countryside close byWicklow Mountains National Park starts 6.8 km north-west.Parks can be a walk away34% of residents live more than 400 m from a park or playing field.
Rathdrum’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 Rathdrum 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 walk66%of residents within 400 m (a 5-minute walk)
17out of 100
Public green space2.7 haper 1,000 residents: parks, gardens, playing fields, play spaces
36out of 100
Footpaths1.3 kmper km², the town and 1 km around it
40out of 100
Protected for nature3.8%of the land within 5 km
65out of 100
Woodland19%of the town and 1 km around it, as mapped
100out 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
Rathdrum has the 16th most footpaths per km² of 40 towns its size
The 40 Irish towns nearest in population (2,264 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
Rathdrum1.3
Towns its size0.7
Co. Wicklow towns1.2
Typical Irish town2.1
Green space, ha per 1,000 residents
Rathdrum2.7
Towns its size3.8
Co. Wicklow towns1.5
Typical Irish town4.1
Residents within 400 m of a park
Rathdrum66%
Towns its size83%
Co. Wicklow towns75%
Typical Irish town92%
Against towns its size, Rathdrum stands out most for path per km²: only 15 of the other 39 have more. It falls furthest behind on park space per resident, where 25 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 | Rathdrum Wicklow | 1.3 | 19% | 3.8% | – |
| 17 | Kilbarry Waterford | 1.3 | 1.6% | 5.1% | – |
| 18 | Bantry Cork | 1 | 4.4% | 0% | 18% |
| 19 | Ballina Tipperary | 0.9 | 1.8% | 4.7% | – |
| 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 Rathdrum’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 Rathdrum
The biggest is Ballygannon Wood, 69 ha (170 acres).
Parnell National Memorial Park
Park or garden
2.0 ha0.9 km of path
10 minto walk all 0.9 km of path
Centralin the middle of Rathdrum
Directionsto a point inside
Native Woodland
Wood or forest · 360 m outside town
4.7 ha
1.5 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
7 in 10 Rathdrum 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 (66%)Further (34%)
Rathdrum66%
Co. Wicklow towns75%
Typical Irish town92%
About 800 people live further than that. Playing fields count, so a park within reach isn’t always one with paths or trees.
Protected areas
3.8% of the land around Rathdrum 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 Rathdrum0%
Within 5 km3.8%
Co. Wicklow towns3.9%
Typical Irish town1.8%
2 protected sites lie within 5 km of Rathdrum. Proposed Natural Heritage Areas cover 6.1% 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 6.8 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
6.8 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
16 km of footpaths cross Rathdrum
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
16 km
over 11.6 km² of town and the 1 km around it
Woodland
19%
about 2.2 km² of mapped woods
Registered trails
6
walking trails within 5 km
Km per km², town and 1 km around · mapped on OpenStreetMap
RathdrumCo. Wicklow townsTypical Irish town
Footpaths1.3
01.53 km per km²
Share of the land · mapped woods and forest
RathdrumCo. Wicklow townsTypical Irish town
Woodland19%
0%50%100%
Rathdrum has less footpath per km² than 60% of Irish towns and more woodland than 100% of Irish towns.
Footpaths and woods: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Woods are mapped cover, private and Coillte forests included.
Footpaths & trails
6 waymarked trails start near Rathdrum
16 km of footpaths are mapped in Rathdrum and the kilometre around it, 1.3 km for every square kilometre (the typical Irish town has 2.1).
Walking trail
Rathdrum - Jubilee Loop4.9 km
Avonmore Way13.5 km
Ballygannon - Red Walk2.0 km
Ballygannon - Green Walk0.9 km
Avondale Forest Park - River Walk5.2 km
Avondale Forest Park - Centenary Trail2.5 km
For a shorter walk, the Avonmore Way is 13.5 km, graded moderate. One cycling or paddling trail also starts within 5 km.
One more waymarked walk on OpenStreetMap
Local
Ballygannon Wood Red Walk1.6 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 Rathdrum: 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) | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 18 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 9 |
| Rain (mm) | 129 | 102 | 95 | 88 | 80 | 82 | 76 | 91 | 100 | 143 | 153 | 135 |
July is the driest month (76 mm) and the warmest (highs of 20 °C). Winter days are short, about 7.6 hours of daylight in December, and 153 mm of rain falls in November, the wettest month. The climate in Rathdrum →
Things to do
2 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.
2Viewpoints2Hills and peaks2Picnic sites4Playgroundsabout the typical Irish town, per resident2Campsites
Every named place, with directions
Viewpoints 2
Plus 2 viewpoints without a name on the map.
Hills and peaks 2
Plus 2 hills and peaks without a name on the map.
Picnic sites 2
Plus 2 picnic sites without a name on the map.
Playgrounds 4
Plus 4 playgrounds without a name on the map.
Campsites 2
Plus 2 campsites without a name on the map.
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract, October 2026. Unnamed places are counted, not listed.
Gardens & nature
2 gardens and nature sites to visit near Rathdrum
Gardens, national parks, nature sites and islands within 15 km of the town’s edge, each with its own page.
National Botanic Gardens - KilmacurraghGarden · 5.1 km from town
Its pageWicklow Mountains National ParkNational park · 14 km from town
Its pagePlaces to visit: Fáilte Ireland open data (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
Next door
Next to Rathdrum
The nearest towns of 1,000+ within 20 km, coloured by the share of the land within 5 km protected for nature.
AughrimAshfordRathnewWicklowArklowNewtownmountkennedyRathdrum
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. Ashford has at least twice Rathdrum’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 Rathdrum
What is the biggest park in Rathdrum?
Parnell National Memorial Park, 2.0 ha (5 acres). 1 named park, garden or playing field is in the town or within 400 m of it.
Is there protected countryside near Rathdrum?
Yes: 3.8% of the land within 5 km is protected, across 2 sites. The nearest is Vale of Clara (Rathdrum Wood) SAC, 0.1 km from the edge of town.
What are the best walks near Rathdrum?
6 waymarked trails start within 5 km, including the Rathdrum - Jubilee Loop, Avonmore Way and Ballygannon - Red Walk.
How many people in Rathdrum live near a park?
66% 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 Rathdrum?
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 Rathdrum near a National Park?
The nearest of Ireland’s six National Parks is Wicklow Mountains National Park, 6.8 km north-west of the town’s edge; it covers about 223 km².
What is there to do outdoors around Rathdrum?
Within 2 km, OpenStreetMap maps 2 viewpoints, 2 hills and peaks and 2 picnic sites; the named ones are listed under Things to do, with directions.
Sources
Where Rathdrum’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).