The Slieve League (Grey Mountain) cliffs, situated on the West coast of Donegal, are said to be the highest and one of the finest marine cliffs in Europe with a three hundred metre drop straight down into the wild, Atlantic waves below. This creates a breathtaking but extremely scary view and one where everyone has to take extreme care. This is an amazing experience and one not to be missed for any walker in Ireland.
Glenveagh National Park -DONEGAL - IRELAND -WILDLIFE - VALLEY
Glenveagh National Park, managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, lies along the Derryveagh mountains in the northwest of County Donegal. These 16,958 hectares of mountain, bogs, lakes and woods is cut in two by the spectacular valley of Glenveagh which gives the Park its name. The Park includes the peaks of the two highest mountains in Donegal, Errigal and Slieve Snacht as well as many other fine hills, notably Dooish and Leahanmore. Towards the southwest end of the Park are the ice-carved cliffs of the Poisoned Glen and Bingorm, while the northeast end has a gentler array of hills, deep peat bogs and the swampy valley of the Owencarrow river.
Lakes range in size from little hillside lochans to the majestic Lough Veagh, surrounded by the scattered remains of a forest which once covered much of Donegal. The ancient name Derryveagh means forest of oak and birch’ and today these remain as the most important species in the woods.
The magic of Glenveagh derives from the fact that here is one of the last places in Ireland to be influenced by man. The aim of the National Park is to conserve this wilderness in such a way that people may visit and appreciate it and yet leave it unspoilt for the generations to come.
DIRECTIONS TO GLENVEAGH NATIONAL PARK
Access from Letterkenny is by the N56 road through Kilmacrenan, turning left on to the Gweedore road (R255), or alternatively via Church Hill, and past Gartan and Akibbon lakes (R251). This route passes close to Glebe House, former home of the late Derek Hill, which, with the adjoining Gallery, houses his collection of paintings and other objets d’art.
