Brent L.
Yelp
It's ABSOLUTELY a beautiful place to visit, but DO SOME RESEARCH and check their website BEFORE driving out there.
Visiting the national parks in Ireland and the UK are a bit different than it is in the US. In the US, there are usually one or more entrance points (where you pay and get a ticket to enter - and a trail map) and specific exit points.
In contrast, the parks in Ireland are wide open and free to visit, but you have no idea when you are inside the park boundaries - you're just driving along a highway, and then you realize you are in the park. Entering the address into Google Maps will lead you to random spots. Quite confusing.
Look for trail markers along the roadsides and very small shoulders off the side of the road where you can park your car and then go hike. Sometimes there is only space for one car, sometimes there are 3 or 4 spots.
Some of the trails have roads to drive down but portions are privately owned and they will let you walk through them, but they won't allow you to drive down them to get to the trail head.
Honestly, do your research before visiting on a whim like I did. Google Maps will do you no favors. It will just lead you to a random spot within the park.
The park is HUGE. If you are looking for Lought Tay, there is single roadside parking spot nearby on R759. You'll have to walk a quarter mile to get to the trail head, and then it's all downhill from there. The hike down is fun, but don't forget you'll have to hike back UP this STEEP roadway. Most of it is paved, but it's so steep that it's a butt kicker!
Lots of movies and TV shows are filmed in this area In fact, they were filming a new TV show when were were here, so we had to walk under a few awkwardly placed tarps, and a few trails that were filled with theatrical smoke - see pix.