Burren National Park

Visiting the Burren is a memorable and almost otherworldly experience, offering a striking contrast to Ireland’s greener landscapes. The vast limestone pavements, rare wildflowers, and dramatic views create a sense of quiet beauty and timelessness, especially when explored on foot. Ancient sites like Poulnabrone Dolmen add depth and meaning to the visit, reminding you of the long human history woven into the land. Whether in sunshine or mist, the Burren feels peaceful and inspiring, making it a place that lingers in your mind long after you leave. The Burren was shaped over millions of years by geological and climatic forces. Formed from ancient seabed deposits laid down during the Carboniferous period, the limestone was later exposed and sculpted by glaciation during the last Ice Age. As glaciers retreated, rainwater slowly dissolved the rock, creating the Burren’s distinctive features such as clints, grikes, caves, and underground rivers. Highly recommended for a visit when travelling through Clare

Hiking in the Burren is a unique and memorable experience unlike anywhere else in Ireland. The landscape feels almost otherworldly, with vast limestone pavements, rocky paths, and wide open views that stretch across the countryside. It’s a place where geology, history, and nature come together beautifully. The trail itself is well marked and offers a mix of gentle walking and slightly more rugged sections. Along the way, you’ll encounter ancient stone walls, prehistoric tombs, and rare plant life that somehow thrives in this harsh limestone environment. The contrast between the grey rock, green grass, and distant hills is striking. What makes the Burren hike especially enjoyable is the sense of space and quiet. Even when other hikers are around, the area never feels crowded. The terrain encourages you to slow down, explore, and really take in your surroundings rather than rushing to a viewpoint.

The scenery was stunningly beautiful and uniquely Irish. We took a 4 mile hike on the red trail but didn’t finish the complete trail. We turned back after 2 miles due to the rough, rocky terrain when it went up the mountain. The multiple trails were well-marked.

Stunning in it's own right. Truly unforgiving landscape. Worth a climb to the peak if wearing good shoes. Go slow and enjoy the view.

We did the blue trail hike. Pro tip is that you can park down the road about 0.6 miles if you want to shorten the hike a bit. The only thing you’re skipping is the walk down that road. In total that will shorten the hike 1.2 miles (Approx 2 KM). The views are unlike anything else in Ireland. You’ll walk along a lake, through a field filled with goats, and up the side of the rocky burren mountain/hill. The hike isn’t overly strenuous but there are 3-4 little areas where you’ll scramble up around a 10 foot steep incline/decline. I’d recommend proper hiking shoes as some of the rocks you’ll step on are rather pointed and could hurt your feet if you’re wearing joggers/skate shoes. If you have the time, it’s a nice little hike and not too far from cliffs of Moher if you need to get away from the rampant swarms of tourists there.

Just splendid! This park is another treasure in Ireland. Located close to Cliffs of Moher. Great for hiking, and seeing all the beauty of nature. Tip, dress in layers, good sturdy shoes. Terrain is very beautiful, but rocky. Be careful.

Honestly one of my favourite spots in all of the 'Emerald Isle', despite it being one of the least green! It's stark, barren, almost otherworldly, and breathtakingly spectacular. Don't miss it if you have a chance, and take time to linger here, explore the coast, the hills, the strange layers and textures, really experience it. Get out of your car and walk around!

Amazing place. Great trails for walks. I hope to get back here some day. My Irish favourite.

The Burren is a rocky landscape region that you can visit right on your way to the Cliffs of Moher. There is even a little outcropping of rocks that they call the Baby Cliffs (looking similar to the Cliffs of Moher but on a much smaller scale). When you're in the Burren, you'll honestly feel like you're in a Brontë novel, with a moorish feeling to the vista around you. We were there on a particularly rainy, cloudy, and foggy day - which added to the brooding nature of this rocky karst environment. You can see the Burren as you drive by/through it just fine, but you'd be doing a disservice to yourself to not step out of the car and smell the petrichor earth around you and see it with your own eyes and not through a window. You can stay longer in the Burren or make it a quick stop on your way to the larger cliffs, but you should definitely make the stop - however long you make it.

Beware of limestone and grass in rain - you may land in the mud. Beautiful landscape in western Ireland!

Nice stop on the way back to Dublin from Cliffs of Moher. Nothing too amazing about it, but it was cool to see the rock formations and some nice photos were taken.

I have to admit it's really hard to appreciate the Burren in a torrential downpour which is unfortunately how I experienced it a few weeks ago on a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher. It's what is known among geologists as a karst landscape which basically means soluble bedrock has built up over time into a fractured puzzle of an expansive rock field. The feeling is lunar in its desolation but with signs of life in the flora and fauna found within the cracks. The expansiveness is what makes it impressive as these rock fields appear to go for miles into the horizon. Our guide had us stop at one of the key markers in the Burren, the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which is a portal tomb dating back to 4200 B.C. (see photo). It looks like a mini-Stonehenge, and you have to walk over the rugged-faced rocks to get a close-up look at it. Definitely slippery when wet. There is an eerie quality to the landscape, but I'll have to come back on a sunny day to appreciate it fully.

At first glace, this vast area of rocks & grass isn't very thrilling. It kind of looks like it just rained rocks one day. At the same time, this land explains the need for rock fences all over the country. At some point, somebody had to "clean" up the land in order to make suitable farmland. It's pretty cool when you think about it. This space isn't as visited as the cliffs of Moher. There is no gift shop or bath rooms. Just a bit of grass, maybe a cow or two, and rocks of all shaped and sizes as far as you can see. Very Scenic.

Meh, I was not as much of a fan as my husband. I think it can also be a little underwhelming after seeing the Cliffs of Moher (a relatively short drive away). Still, it's a very unusual sort of 'moonscape'-looking piece of earth. Worth going to see if you are in the area, but don't hold your breath for something super dramatic. Still, from where I sit now, in foggy San Francisco, I would rather be in the foggy Burren than here.

Certainly beautiful and expansive with unique geological formations, though I wouldn't spend much time here or attempt to hike around in the area due to the craggy, porous, limestone landscape. It's more of a "hmm, that's pretty" and move along type of deal.

I love the burren. Some people may be disappointed as in todays world of theme parks and neon signs simple pleasures like the Burren may be lost. I personally love it. I visit a few times a year and drive right up the middle on my bike to Cassidy's pub - a local landmark and a must if you plan on visiting the Burren. You can sit you back and take in the landscape while having a nice pint sure. If you are visiting Co. Clare and like myself enjoy of bit of scenery, then you will like the Burren.

There's a difference between and among just driving around the region known as "The Burren" in Co. Clare, following roads known as "The Burren Way" (with the hiking man icon), and the actual Burren National Park, which you should access by making the first and only right turn in Killinaboy when heading north from the town of Corofin. There are no brown tourist signs indicating "Burren National Park this way," nor does the park's website tell you that the road is the L1112, so we missed it at first and drove many kilometers up and around the park, and back down again, apparently entering it from the back (north) end, instead of coming up from the south, where we would have seen the "lay-by" (pull-over) to park the car and read the signage regarding the marked trails. Other than that, you would not know that you're in the park; you're driving narrow, lonely country roads through the stereotypical private, walled grazing lands of The Burren, with a smattering of farm houses and tiny villages with some schools, churches, and the occasional pub. But when we got to the trail heads' lay-by, we were able to use the effective signage and choose a trail length & difficulty level considering the weather, time already lost to driving around, and the age of our kids, and we were pleasantly surprised by what would otherwise have been experienced as just "meh" from the roadway, as somebody noted. Taking the easiest, "Orange" trail, we walked through flowering meadows dotted with black boulders large and small, spontaneous ponds known as turloughs, and secluded wooded glades of small trees and ferns with a close canopy and beautiful moss-covered tree trunks, stone fences long abandoned and covered over, little frogs that jumped out of our way...... "Mind the poo!" became our trail-blazing cry as we dodged the manure of large herbivores that also use the trail. It was a drizzly day of mud and daisies, and we loved it. And it was free. According to the park's website, they have started this month a "hop-on hop-off" bus service that takes you to various trails, but we have no idea where this would pick you up. We certainly never saw any formal entrance to the park.