Dublin mountains way
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Fergus Hayes | Jan 23 2019, 12:31pm | Hi guys, I'm planning on running the DMW and was wondering if anyone had any tips on the route?? Thinking of heading from Tallaght to Shankill , it would be great to hear from anyone who has completed the course. Thanks Ferg |
| Pádraig Doyle | Jan 23 2019, 1:56pm | Hi Fergus. It's a nice route. There is a fair bit of road along the way, but it's quiet. On the roads there are few blind bends to watch out for traffic... nothing to worry about as long as you're alert. Bit of hi-viz wouldn't go astray for the road sections. You'll get some lovely views over Dublin and a good range in countryside. A lot of the hills are covered fairly regularly by the Leinster races to varying extents and the DMW is pretty well marked, but if those hills are totally new to you it'd be no harm to have it mapped out. The path meanders a lot between Scalp and Barnaslingan forest, but it is marked. It's a nice varied route and handy for Luas to the start and Dart from the end. Hope you enjoy it. P. |
| Warren Swords | Jan 23 2019, 2:21pm | It's a nice run. There's a free water tap just past Johnny Foxes if you need refills. The route was changed in April 2018 to reduce the number of kms on road, something to bear in mind if following an old GPS route. There's also coffee/snacks available at Biking.ie at lower car park Ticknock, requires a small detour. |
| Mike Jordan | Jan 23 2019, 3:32pm | I've run it both directions and I think it's a bit easier going from Tallaght to Shankill. There's a bit less climb that direction and you gain it more gradually. It's a nudge over 40k total for the whole things. Maps are here: https://www.dublinmountains.ie/dublin_mountains_way/dublin_mountains_way/ The other lads have covered the main points: Water/refreshments en-route at The GAP/Johnnie Foxs (12k from Shankill). Good bit of road from Bohernabreena reservoir to Military Road but it's quiet. A few twists and turns around Scalp to look out for. Luas/bus at Tallaght, DART/bus at Shankill. Happy trails! |
| John J Barry | Jan 23 2019, 3:34pm | I've ran it four times - always from Shankill. It's a good route. Even better now with some rerouting of the road either side of Johnny Foxes. I'll be going some evening in the next couple of weeks (nice night run too) As said above transport is very handy with Dart out to Shankill or Luas at Tallaght. From the Shankill side below the Hellfire Club there is one hard turn left (down a steep hill) on a road section but the sign is missing. The sign will be missing too from Tallaght side but its more obvious which way to go. The tap at Foxes is still there but the palm button is broken off. I had to use a 'rock' to press on the screw head to get water out. The river at Cruagh is another good water source. I would suspect it's easier from Shankill but that's just my guess. A lot of downhill into Tallaght this way.. |
| Shane O'Malley | Jan 23 2019, 5:14pm | Love to have a go at that myself. Would anyone have an up to date GPX of the route. Cheers Shane |
| Gordon Place | Jan 23 2019, 5:48pm | Having gone the Shankill to Tallaght direction, I think I'd prefer to do it the other way around if doing it again, get the Tallaght road bit, and Bohernabreena Roads out of the way earlier. You should be able to download a gpx from this https://strava.app.link/uEOcQ3byIT |
| Peter O'Farrell | Jan 24 2019, 9:51am | Tallaght to Shankill is better as the finish is downhill, has decent views over the sea and the clincher, is at a Pub. |
| Fergus Hayes | Jan 24 2019, 10:02am | Thanks guys, Great stuff. Ferg |
| Shane O'Malley | Jan 24 2019, 3:00pm | Thanks Gordon, Looking to do from the Tallaght direction on Sunday week (Weather permitting) I know alot of the locations on the route but will be good to link them all together. Pub grub in Shankill and dart back home sounds perfect. |
| Fergus Hayes | Jan 24 2019, 3:25pm | Good luck with the run Shane, maybe you could put a strava/ gpx up on the forum when you are done?? Ferg |
| Stephen Coller | Jan 26 2019, 1:52pm | Ferg/Shane, Try this link for box of tallaght to shankill (ignore the last mile-ish it finishes at the pub) https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3119672173?share_unique_id=4 |
| Shane O'Malley | Jan 28 2019, 11:20am | Thanks Stephen, As long as i dont have to keep up your pace. |
| John J Barry | Jan 28 2019, 12:40pm | Folks, Logistically, what's the way way to get to Tallaght after dumping a car in Shankill? It's a long way to get a Dart to Town and Luas back out. Any Shorter way? |
| John J Barry | Jan 28 2019, 12:40pm | Folks, Logistically, what's the way way to get to Tallaght after dumping a car in Shankill? It's a long way to get a Dart to Town and Luas back out. Any Shorter way? |
| Stuart Scott | Jan 28 2019, 12:48pm | Dart to Dun Laoghaire and then the 75 bus to Tallaght could be an option? You might be quicker running though! Alternatively could you leave a car at Ticknock and run it out-and-back in two halves? |
| Stuart Scott | Jan 28 2019, 12:49pm | Or you could leave your car unlocked in Tallaght and it might get to Shankill on its own :-) |
| Conor O'Farrell | Jan 28 2019, 12:56pm | 1. Leave the car in town 2. Get the Luas to Tallaght 3. Run the route 4. DART to town and pick up the car. That way there's less time on that blimmin 75 bus to Tallaght, it takes hours. |
| Andrew Mendelson | Jan 28 2019, 12:56pm | I would leave the car in town. That way, you can recover and refuel on the pleasant DART ride from Shankill into town. |
| John J Barry | Jan 28 2019, 1:00pm | Didn't know about that bus Stuart.. Cheers. Handy it goes to Dundrum Luas.. That's an option for me.. Half the bus journey... https://www.transportforireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Timetable-75_75A.pdf |
| John J Barry | Jan 28 2019, 1:01pm | Didn't know about that bus Stuart.. Cheers. Handy it goes to Dundrum Luas.. That's an option for me.. Half the bus journey... https://www.transportforireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Timetable-75_75A.pdf |
| Graham K. Bushe | Feb 24 2019, 9:14pm | It's probably a bit late, but for what it's worth, I ran the DMW today. Starting from Shankill (and just to be sure, I came back too) On the way past J Foxes I saw the water hydrant has a BOIL notice attached. However on the return, thankfully, I spotted a small push button tap on the right side of the road (approx 10k from Tallaght and another outside tap at GAP (I'm still alive and haven't grown any extra body parts... so far). There is a fair bit of road, the climbs are steep enough in places but not too long. Overall its a good enough route for a run. If you are worried about bus or Luas times etc sure you can always do the double. ;) Graham |
| Miriam Maher | Feb 24 2019, 9:30pm | Love it Graham - the understatement of it all:). Brilliant, well done again. The burning question for me is will the dogs get a day off the daybreak run tomorrow?? |
| Shane O'Malley | Feb 25 2019, 8:39am | Well done Graham. I never got to do it myself as the snow got in the way that weekend but will have to put it on the todo list. Will also make sure my lift is waiting for me when i get there :) |
| Edwin McAree | Sep 28 2020, 5:50pm | Hey, Thanks for posting route info. Thinking of running this as my DCM virtual attempt in a few weeks to mix it up in the direction of Tallaght to Shankill. Would anyone have info on a competitive time across this route or a time allowance of your own attempt versus a road across same distance? 2 reasons, Logistics and some motivation of a target to aim for. Thanks, Edwin |
| Gordon Place | Sep 28 2020, 7:29pm | Hi Edwin, for logistics, I'd say you'd want to give yourself somewhere around 30% over your road time. Regards Gordon |
| Edwin McAree | Sep 28 2020, 8:10pm | Thanks Gordon, have downloaded the gpx you provided before, should be of great help. |
| Seb Szm | Sep 28 2020, 11:32pm | Hi Edwin, I did the old DMW before the change.A little tip is to buy water/drink in Tibradden forest (by the zip lines). I Also skipped the part that goes by Hell Fire club - when I got to the end (Shankil) I had approximately 40k done with 1047m elevation gain according to strava. Happy running. Seb |
| Gareth Little | Sep 29 2020, 10:22am | Hi Edwin, I have run the DMW twice over the past few months. Once from SH to Tallaght and then from Tallaght to SH. The latter is definitely the best direction as you get a lot of the road sections out of the way early and then you have a lovely long downhill finish into cracking scenery. I was about ~45 mins off my marathon PB and was unsupported so carried all that I needed which was not that much in the end. I think I went through about 750ml of water and 2 snickers bars although I had some more supplies in my race vest just in case... The Hellfire section mentioned previously is no longer part of the route btw. I cannot post my .gpx here but if you would like it just shoot me a mail on gar little @ me . com Best of luck Gareth |
| Chris Siddell | Sep 29 2020, 1:38pm | Edwin, I have ran the first section from Tallaght to Two Rock a few times and always enjoy it, especially on weekdays when it is quieter. I've always got to Two Rock then dropped down the Wicklow Way to Marley park and back to Tallaght on the road...but definitely want to do the whole thing at some point in the near future so let me know how you get on! |
| Nigel McCabe | Oct 12 2020, 10:41am | Im looking at this myself in the not too distant future.. Tallaght to Shankill way just wondering can anyone confirm the elevation gain going that way. Need at least 1350m dont mind adding in a hill or two but just to plan accordingly. Thanks. |
| John J Barry | Oct 12 2020, 11:28am | Dublin Mountain Way (hike) Tallaght to Shankill Distance: 38.59km Elevation 933m https://www.strava.com/activities/2219013635 |
| Gordon Place | Oct 12 2020, 11:36am | A Diversion up to Princes Williams Seat along the WW and back down might help? You can head back towards Glencullen for a couple of hundred metres before turing left at the bus stop straight up to fairycastle? |
| Graham K. Bushe | Oct 12 2020, 12:00pm | Hi Nigel, looks like John is being a bit hard on you :) My strava was a bit nicer to me and put it around 1030m 24/02/19 (and Gareth's was even nicer to him 1069m 12/07/20) maybe the hills are growing or it might just feel like that...lol Either way, you will need to do a bit of exploring as Gordon suggests |
| Gordon Place | Oct 12 2020, 12:18pm | Sorry, you'd be going down to bus stop from Fairycastle and right to PWS up and back, going from Tallaght. Probably still leaves you a bit short of gain, sure you can throw in the hellfire to make it up ;). Probably end up hitting aound 50km though. Mine made DWM just under 1000m going from Tallaght |
| Gordon Place | Oct 12 2020, 12:21pm | Was looking for similar for the virtual mourne skyline and 5 times up and down to PWS from the gate seems pretty much bang 1350m in 35km, although not too exciting |
| Eoin Keith | Oct 12 2020, 1:46pm | Nigel, the DMW can be > 1350m if you want it to be. You just have to use the correct tool to measure it. That sounds like rubbsh, but its true. It's also the reason you'll get totally inconsistant answers as to the heightgain of the route. That's to be expected. The only real absolute mesurement on the route would be the difference between the lowest point and highest point. Once you go beyond that the answer you get for height gain will be determined by the resolution / accuracy / sampling frequency of the tool you use to measure, no matter what the tool is (Map, GPS device, very long piece of string). This is because lanscapes are fractal in nature. Similaly height profiles of routes are fractals. The closer you look (or the more often you measure), the greater the height gain you will calculate. You could follow the pages from this link to get an idea of how this works ... http://fractalfoundation.org/OFC/OFC-9-1.html , particularly the bits about measuring the length of a coastline. |
| John J Barry | Oct 12 2020, 8:26pm | Divert via Kilmashogue, Kellystown Lane and Ticknock should add 400m or maybe reverse of that to ensure you climb Fairy Castle twice and get ~500m! |
| Robert Costello | Oct 12 2020, 9:54pm | @Eoin Jasus. So that UTMB Vert could be ten times higher if we measured every mm of an incline? Good to know! |
| Shane Enright | Oct 13 2020, 8:14am | @Eoin Correct, but humans are not ants crawling over every pebble on the landscape. There is a minimally functional sampling interval probably around the length of a human stride. Otherwise you won't get "totally inconsistant" answers from GPS-based measurements on any A-B route. If measured using similar technology they will tend to bunch together in something very like a normal distribution. For any given route simply walk it 999 times and measure. The median measurement will be functionally the most useful. I'm not on Strava but with I presume the data is out there for this kind of exercise on frequently-run/walked routes. |
| Ruairí Long | Oct 14 2020, 1:34pm | Hi all, Interesting to read about the debates of how to add climb to the DMW. For anyone who is interested in a more "technical" (in very loose terms) variation of the same ish route, have a look at this route that I call the "Dublin Skyline". From Fernhill/ Stepaside to Tallaght over the high hills. Slower going but mixes in some open mountain climbs and descents. And it's all within county Dublin! https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1120964 https://www.strava.com/activities/4114688335 If you wanted to add even more vert you could do an out on back on Hellfire, brings it up to around 1500m. This can be seen here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1291487 |
| Stuart Scott | Oct 14 2020, 2:30pm | Great route Ruairi. I had thought of a similar "Dublin Mountains Way" that follows the county border from Glennasmole to Shankill. The main diffference is that it would veer right to Prince Willies and then from Barnaslingan to Shankill. Regarding the height gain debate, it's a bit like asking what's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow! |
| Alan Ayling | Oct 15 2020, 8:48pm | If you want the added thrill of being chased by some really interesting dogs you could try heading west from Hellfire Club forest in the direction of Piperstown Hill & Glenasmole down through the fields. The pattern of the bites you sustain might possibly be fractal in nature. |
| Jeff Fitzsimons | Oct 16 2020, 12:13pm | Alan, I'm loving it. Can I propose a Like button for the forum here or do I need to bring it as a motion to the AGM? |
| Stuart Scott | Oct 16 2020, 12:40pm | Jeff, it might be better if you kept your motions to yourself! |
| Stuart Scott | Oct 16 2020, 10:06pm | My apologies Jeff, I've been reliably informed that I had mixed up the word 'motion' with another. Sorry if I sounded unsupportive of your motions! |
