The walk
The county line between Tipperary and Limerick runs straight down the middle of the Clare River, and the river spends most of it falling. Over a couple of kilometres the water drops through a gorge it has cut into soft red sandstone, breaking into a run of small waterfalls and shallow plunge pools. The largest sits near the top of the loop – a top drop, then a sidewinder into the pool below. You tend to hear the falls a while before you see them.
The full loop is about 4km and follows both banks, so you get the gorge from each side and swap over on the footbridges. Reckon on an hour and a half at a walking pace, more if you stop at every pool, with around 60m of climbing spread across the circuit. If you’re short on time, the 2km nature loop turns back at a wooden bridge partway up and still takes in the best of the water.
Underfoot
This is not a walk to rush, and not one for a buggy. The path drops to the river on flights of steps cut into the ravine, threads over tree roots, and turns to mud along the top on the Limerick side after any rain. The rocks near the water stay slick long after the sky clears. People do scramble down to the pools – the sandstone is greasy and the drops are real, so keep children back from the edge and don’t chance the wet rock for a photo. Walking boots, not trainers.
Getting there
There are two car parks, one on each side of the river. The Tipperary approach is off the R503 about 4km from Newport; the Limerick approach is off the R506 roughly 5km north of Murroe. The smaller car park has a picnic area, a children’s play area and toilets. Both are free, and the loop starts from either.
Nearby
Glenstal Abbey, the Benedictine monastery outside Murroe, is only a few minutes’ drive and worth an hour for its walled gardens and lake. For more forest, Ballyhourigan Woods Loop runs through the trees on the lower slopes of Keeper Hill, the highest point in the county at 694m if you fancy the climb afterwards.
Go after a dry spell and the steps and rocks are far kinder; go after heavy rain and the falls are at their loudest but the footing turns treacherous. Either way, wear boots, and start from the smaller car park if you’ve children in tow – the toilets and playground are handy at the end.