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Connemara Tours › Connemara National ParkUpdated 2026-09-18

Connemara National Park

Hours, prices and access verified by the Connemara Tours team — last checked 2026-09-18.

Connemara National Park costs you nothing to enter, and its four waymarked trails climb from a woodland loop to the top of Diamond Hill. Booking one of the Connemara hiking tours? Here is what each trail asks of you, when the visitor centre opens, and how much time you need.

What the park is, and what it costs

A range of bare mountains above a long lough, with autumn bog grass along the shore
A range of bare mountains above a long lough, with autumn bog grass along the shore

So you never need a ticket here. What you need is time, because the trails are the reason to come. The mountains are the Twelve Bens, and four of them sit inside the park.

When the visitor centre is open

The park itself is open all year, every day. The visitor centre keeps shorter days. It opens Wednesday to Sunday, 9:00 to 17:30, and on bank holiday Mondays. It is closed on Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day.

From 1 July 2026, the visitor centre is closed every Monday and Tuesday. The trails, the car park and The Hungry Hiker café stay open, so a walk still works on those days. Plan a Wednesday to Sunday visit if you want the exhibition and the film, or pick from the Connemara hiking tours, which are built around the trails.

Weather closes the park too. The grounds shut during orange and red weather warnings, so check Met Éireann’s warnings on the morning you go. Month-by-month rain and the warning seasons are on Connemara weather.

The four trails, from Ellis Wood to the top of Diamond Hill

Every trail starts at the visitor centre. They are waymarked by colour, and the two Diamond Hill loops share their first stretch. The park gives distances and grades, not walking times, so read the grade before you set out.

TrailColourDistanceGradeThe ground underfoot
Ellis Wood Nature TrailGreen0.5 kmEasyStone steps and boardwalk through woodland, to a waterfall
Sruffaunboy TrailYellow1.5 kmEasyStone and gravel, a steep descent near the end, past the pony paddock
Lower Diamond HillBlue3 kmModerateOld bog road, steps and boardwalk, a 90 m climb to Big Rock
Upper Diamond HillRed3.7 kmStrenuousGravel paths and boardwalk to the summit, down the far side

Ellis Wood Nature Trail: 0.5 km, graded easy. Stone steps and boardwalk through woodland, to a waterfall.

Sruffaunboy Trail: 1.5 km, graded easy. Stone and gravel, a steep descent near the end, past the pony paddock.

Lower Diamond Hill: 3 km, graded moderate. Old bog road, steps and boardwalk, a 90 m climb to Big Rock.

Upper Diamond Hill: 3.7 km, graded strenuous. Gravel paths and boardwalk to the summit, down the far side.

The Sruffaunboy Trail gives you views of Diamond Hill, Ballynakill Harbour, Barnaderg Bay and Tully Mountain for little effort. From the summit of Diamond Hill you look over the Twelve Bens and down to Kylemore Abbey on its lough.

How long each trail takes on a tour day

A tour gives you a fixed block in the park, and that block decides your trail. Lally Tours’ park day gives you two hours. The choice days from the Kinlay Hostel give you three hours, in the park or at Kylemore. Fat Bike Galway’s guided hike gives you three hours on foot with a guide.

Two hours suits the lower loop, with time for the visitor centre after. One traveller on a two-hour stop found it too short for the summit, and the grades bear that out. If the top of Diamond Hill is the point of your day, pick a three-hour block. Wear boots with grip, because the upper loop is stone, gravel and boardwalk all the way.

Want trail time on your day out?

Compare the days that give you two or three hours in the park, and the guided hike that walks it with you.

See Connemara hiking toursCompare every tour

The Twelve Bens and the wider park

Four of the park’s mountains, Benbaun, Bencullagh, Benbrack and Muckanaght, belong to the Twelve Bens, which Irish speakers call Na Beanna Beola. Benbaun, at 725 m, is the highest peak in County Galway.

Beyond the four trails there are no formal paths. The wider park is open to experienced hikers with a map and compass, and the sheet you need is OS sheet 37. If you are not sure you are one of them, stay on the waymarked trails.

Letterfrack, Marconi and the people of the park

The park holds land that was once part of the Kylemore Abbey estate, the Letterfrack Industrial School and the property of Richard ‘Humanity Dick’ Martin, who helped to found the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

The visitor centre buildings were the school’s farm buildings, and the park office was its infirmary. The school’s graveyard lies inside the park, kept as a place of remembrance for the boys who suffered abuse there.

In April 1911, Guglielmo Marconi rented a room in the infirmary. He worked there on the first full duplex two-way radio, with aerials strung between Diamond Hill and Mweelin. In the famine years, the Quakers Mary and James Ellis and Sophia Sturge gave work to local people, and part of their land lies in the park.

Rules: dogs, bikes, fires, camping and midges

Getting to the entrance

The visitor centre sits on the N59 near Letterfrack. Coming from Leenane or Westport, it is about 200 m beyond the village. Coming from Clifden, the turn is signed on your right before you reach Letterfrack.

By road it is about 15 km from Clifden, 20 km from Leenane and 53 km from Westport. From Galway it is about 82 km through the Inagh Valley, or 93 km by Clifden. By bus, Bus Éireann route 419 and Citylink route 923 run from Galway and Clifden, and Bus Éireann route 423 runs from Westport. The roads and the buses in full are on getting to Connemara.

Days out that give you time in the park

Most Kylemore days pass the park without stopping. These are the ones that give you the trails:

The guided hike: Fat Bike Galway picks you up in Galway, stops for a sheepdog demonstration and an hour in Leenane, then walks you through the park for three hours. It is private to your group.

The two-hour park day: Lally Tours leaves from the HYDE Hotel, stops at Leenane and Killary Harbour, then gives you two hours in the park before a break at Spiddal.

The choice days: Wild Atlantic Way Day Tours and Ireland Wild Escapes leave from the Kinlay Hostel, stop in Clifden and drive the Sky Road. Then you choose three hours in the park or at Kylemore, on the day.

From Dublin: Rabbie’s 3-day west coast tour gives you 30 minutes at the park, and its 5-day tour an hour at the visitor centre.

National park questions

Is Connemara National Park free?
Yes. There is no entry fee and parking is free, all year. The exhibition and the 20-minute film in the visitor centre are free too.
When is the visitor centre open?
Wednesday to Sunday, 9:00 to 17:30, and on bank holiday Mondays. It is closed on other Mondays and on Tuesdays, and the trails stay open on those days.
How long is the Diamond Hill walk?
The upper loop to the summit is 3.7 km and graded strenuous. The lower loop is 3 km with a 90 m climb. Both start at the visitor centre.
Is Kylemore Abbey inside Connemara National Park?
No. Kylemore Abbey is not inside Connemara National Park. The abbey stands across the lough from the park, a few kilometres further along the N59.
Can I bring a dog to the park?
Yes, on a lead. Fires and barbecues are not allowed anywhere in the park.
Can I cycle in the park?
Not on the walking trails. Cycling is not permitted on them. Leave the bike at the visitor centre and walk.

Where these facts come from

Everything about the park, its trails, hours and rules comes from the park’s own pages, read in 2026. What each tour does there comes from that tour’s own itinerary.

Days out that spend their long stop in the park

Next: plan the rest of the region on things to do in Connemara, set the date with Connemara weather, or compare every day out on Connemara Tours.