Overview
Camenabologue (Irish Céim na mBulóg, ‘step or pass of the bullocks’) is a 758 m (2,487 ft) summit at the head of Glenmalure, in the southern Wicklow Mountains. It’s the 55th-highest summit in Ireland on the Arderin list – 31st on MountainViews’ prominence-based table – and part of a horseshoe of tops that includes Table Mountain (702 m) and Conavalla (734 m), linking north to lower ground and south toward Lugnaquilla, Ireland’s highest peak outside Kerry. Most people who climb it do so as a bolt-on to Conavalla rather than a trip in its own right, and the standalone summit is the sensible choice for a shorter day: roughly 12 km there and back, with one honest pull at the end.
Getting there and parking
The usual start is Baravore car park in Glenmalure. From Dublin it’s about an hour and a quarter: N11 south, then in via the R755 and the valley road. Parking is free, but the car park is small and fills fast on fine weekends – Wicklow County Council has bought land to extend it precisely because visitor numbers have outgrown it, so come early or expect to be squeezed onto the verge.
There’s no public transport into Glenmalure. The nearest railway station is Rathdrum, about 15 km off on the Dublin–Rosslare line, and most people without a car take a taxi from there.
The ascent
The commonest outing pairs Camenabologue with Conavalla in a roughly 19 km loop, though the peak stands on its own fine. From the car park, cross the Avonbeg River and follow the gravel track inland. After about 4.5 km you reach a Y-junction; bear left onto the Camenabologue spur, which climbs steadily for around 1.5 km to the top.
The track is clear at first, then narrows to rocky ground with a couple of stream crossings on rough log bridges or stepping stones. Higher up it softens into the usual Wicklow bog, with short boardwalk sections to keep your boots out of the worst of it. The last kilometre is a well-trodden grassy path to a modest stone cairn. On a clear day the summit opens a full circle across the Glenmalure basin, the surrounding peaks and, in the distance, the Irish Sea.
Mining heritage
Below the Y-junction, a short detour follows the old Mine Path into forest and up to the ruins of a mid-19th-century silver and lead operation – part of the wider Glenmalure mining district. The most obvious survivor is a roofless ore-crushing house. It’s the low-level Baravore Mining Trail, about 2 km and 45 minutes, and a good fallback in itself if the tops are in cloud.
Safety and the Glen of Imaal
Camenabologue’s western flank runs along the edge of the Glen of Imaal, an active live-firing range used regularly by the Defence Forces – not a historical footnote. Stay on the marked corridor, heed every sign, and check the Glen of Imaal closure notices before you go. If you hear artillery or see exercise markers, sit tight somewhere sheltered until it’s clear.
Wicklow weather turns fast. Even in summer it can be cold and hard-blowing on the open plateau, and cloud can swallow the ground in minutes. The standalone summit is easy enough to follow, but the wider Table Mountain and Conavalla rounds are rough, remote and genuinely need map-and-compass skills. Carry a waterproof, a warm layer, a map or GPS track and a charged phone.
Flora, fauna and seasons
The upper slopes are classic upland heath – heather, bilberry, crowberry and white bog cotton in the wet peat. Meadow pipits and skylarks flit across the ridges, and peregrines work the higher ground; red and sika deer show in the valleys at dawn and dusk. The firmest ground and longest days run from late spring into autumn. Winter is for the experienced only: snow and ice make the bog treacherous, and poles and, in hard conditions, crampons earn their keep.
Practical information
- Distance: about 12 km out-and-back to Camenabologue; roughly 19 km for the Conavalla loop.
- Elevation gain: around 550 m (standalone); about 850 m (loop).
- Time: 3–4 hours standalone; 5–6 hours for the loop.
- Difficulty: hard. You need fitness, sure feet on rough ground and readiness for weather that changes by the minute.
- Navigation: the standalone spur is reasonably easy to follow; the wider rounds are not always obvious on the ground and need real map skills. Summit is at 53.005278 N, 6.476667 W.
- Facilities: none on the mountain. Baravore car park is a flat spot for a breather; the Glenmalure Lodge nearby can do basic overnight rooms, but check it’s open before you count on it.
Nearby attractions
- Avondale Forest Park – 15 minutes north, the restored family home of Charles Stewart Parnell, open for guided tours, with woodland trails and the Beyond the Trees treetop walkway.
- Ballinastoe MBT – a network of purpose-built mountain-bike trails just outside the park boundary.
- Glenmalure Valley – the valley floor is thick with 19th-century mining remains, engine houses and tramways, and makes a good walk in its own right.
If the summit’s clagged in, the low-level Baravore Mining Trail gives you the silver-and-lead ruins without the navigation gamble – 2 km, three-quarters of an hour, and you’re back at the car.