If you are looking for the mystical and magical Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk in Wicklow, Ireland, you have come to the right place!
My partner and I spent over 2 hours looking for the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk using information from the internet and never found it until we stumbled upon it by accident.
Tons of our followers have messaged us saying they searched for the boardwalk too and couldn’t find it either and left disappointed.
So we are writing this post so that you can easily find the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk and see this magical place on your own. Walking around for hours was no fun and we were in the completely wrong area.
In this post, we will show you exactly where on which part of the Ballinastoe Woods walk you should visit to see this stunning place that looks like it is out of a fairytale and truly one of the Best Things To Do In Ireland!
What Are The Ballinastoe Woods In Wicklow?
The Ballinastoe Woods are an area of Wicklow, in Ireland that is filled with dense trees. There is the Ballinastoe Woods walk which is about 5+ kilometers long, but we won’t be talking about that here.
This is going to be a quick and easy post for people who are just mainly looking to see the really cool Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk which has become famous due to social media.
There are plenty of other places to read about the walk, but today we are going to show you exactly how to find the boardwalk along the Ballinastoe Woods walk.
It is important to note that there are two boardwalks along the walk, one is in a more alpine region heading to the JB Malone memorial. That is NOT the boardwalk you want to head to. In fact, that boardwalk is quite far from the one you are aiming to find in the Ballinastoe Woods!
Exactly How To Find The Ballinastoe Woods Boardwalk In Wicklow
Now, I am going to give you step by step instructions with photos on exactly how to find the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk!
You will notice that many blog posts or trail websites will say to park at the JB Malone Car Park which is incredibly far from the actual boardwalk in the woods. You do NOT want to do this as you will be left walking around confused.
There is also a Ballinastoe Woods Car Park. This one is a little bit better than the JB Malone Car Park, but still not what we are looking for.
Here is a Google Map screenshot so you can visualize what I am talking about!
Do you see my red circle? This is the easiest place to find the Ballinastoe Woods Boardwalk. As you can see, the JB Malone Car Park is very far and this is what many people suggest to start at. The “Wicklow Way Car Park” below is a good spot to park and then walk along the road to the red circle.
There is a “Ballinastoe Woods Car Park” which is between the JB Malone Car Park and the Wicklow Way Car Park pictured here, but you will still have a hard time finding the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk this way.
However, there are other options. And this is what I am going to show you!
This next map is going to be a close-up of the red circle so you can see what I am talking about.
In the above screen shot you will see two arrows. The bottom area points to a little pullout off the road, and the top arrow points to a little trail entry from the road.
This trail entry from the road, just beyond the pullout, is the easiest way to find the Ballinastoe Woods Boardwalk if you want to cut the time and just go straight to the pretty view.
Now you have two options. You can park at the Wicklow Car park that is at the bottom of this screen shot, but it closes early.
If you park here, we suggest walking along the road until you reach the second arrow which will be the trail that leads just off the road. This is the easiest and most straightforward way.
Alternatively, you can park your car at the little pullout [the bottom arrow] and then walk up to the second arrow which is the trail entry for Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk.
Of course, the pullout can only hold two cars max, so you may not get lucky and have a spot. If you do, I suggest parking at the pullout. If you don’t, I suggest parking at the parking lot shown at the bottom of this screen shot and then walk along the road instead of trying to find it along the Ballinastoe Woods Walk which is very confusing.
Below is a photo looking up from the Wicklow Parking Lot as if the pullout were full and you were going to walk along the road up to the pullout and entrance point.
And here is what it looks like walking up the road and looking back at the Wicklow Car Park. Remember, if you drive all the way to JB Malone Car Park you have made it too far!
Here is what the pullout looks like. Just look for one pullout along the road between the JB Malone Car Park and the Wicklow Car Park and once you find it [very near this iron gate] you will be golden!
This pullout above is the “bottom” red arrow in the map. Now, if you walk just past it, you will see the trail entrance which is right off the road. Before you park, you may even want to drive this stretch of road to orient yourself and find where the entrance is so that you know what to look for when finding the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk!
Here is a close up of the entry point to the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk from the road. Of course, there are other ways to do the Ballinastoe Woods Walk, but we searched for 2+ hours using incorrect directions and we want to save you the time and energy.
Now as soon as you walk up into the Ballinastoe Woods from the road, you will follow the trail and head right. Once you get in the forest, it will look something like this below photo!
The path is very well maintained, so if you are not on a well maintained path that you reached from the street right near a little pullout, you are probably in the wrong area!
You will follow this path into the woods for literally less than 5 minutes until you come across the beginning of the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk which will look like the below photo!
Once you get here, you are going to make a left and head uphill. So from the road, you will take a right, walk for about 5 minutes, and then when you come upon the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk, you will take a left and head uphill. It will look like this photo.
After you walk uphill on the boardwalk for less than 5 minutes, you will come to the famous Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk photo and video spot.
It is just at the top of this hill and you will see the trees start to overhand the path.
That is it! You have arrived, and it took less than 10 minutes to find, instead of the two hours that we spent [and many others spent] searching to no avail to find this place.
Once you are done, just walk back down the path, hook a right and head back out to the street! Unless you want to continue exploring the Ballinastoe Woods Walk and hike around more! But this at least gets you to the spot that you want to see with ease.
Exact GPS Coordinates For Ballinastoe Woods Boardwalk
These are the exact GPS coordinates for the entrance to the Ballinastoe Woods boardwalk that is right near the road and the pullout pictured in the photos above.
If you put this in your GPS and then start looking for a well-maintained trail that enters from the road [not a parking lot!] that is near a pullout, and then follow my detailed instructions above, you should find the Ballinastoe Woods Boardwalk photography spot with ease!
Ballinastoe Woods GPS Coordinates: 53°05’53″N 6°15’06″W
This Google Maps Location is pretty accurate to at least get you in the ballpark area of where the pullout and road trail entrance is!
I hope that this post helped you find the boardwalk along the Ballinastoe Forest Walk and that you can explore it quickly and easily instead of spending hours of time like we did!
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