Laois Slieve Bloom waterfall is one of Ireland's most visited beauty spots

The famous Glenbarrow walkway and waterfall is attracting thousands of visitors to Laois to a point where it is in a nationwide Top 20 out of a possible 250 beauty spots around Ireland managed by Coillte.

The State-owned forestry company says Glenbarrow had almost 51,700 visits last year, placing it nineteenth overall in the Top 20 most visited Coillte recreational sites nationwide.

Glenbarrow, which has benefited from increased parking recently, has four walking trails and features waterfalls and steep-sided valleys. Historically, the area was quarried in the 1800s with signs of this activity still visible.

The river Barrow weaves through deposits of ancient glaciers in the area, with trails leading onto the Nature Reserve on the Ridge of Capard where visitors can overlook the beautiful valley below.J

Broadcaster Claire Byrne returned to her roots for a scenic walk in the Slieve Blooms for episode of Tracks & Trails which was screened on RTÉ 1 in 2025.

Claire, from Mountrath, joins with Doireann Ní Ghlacáin in the final episode of walk the Glenbarrow Old Mill Loop, a 10.5km trail that winds through forest, waterfalls, including the ruins of The Cones, which was the last inhabited village in the Laois Offaly mountains. 

In first place with almost 350,000 visits, was Avondale Forest Park. MORE BELOW PHOTO.

Glenbarrow Walk.

Avondale Forest Park is home to the visitor destination Beyond the Trees Avondale which officially opened in July 2022. In addition to Avondale House, the home of Charles Stewart Parnell, it now boasts a unique Treetop Walk and Viewing Tower, Ireland’s longest slide.

WATCH: Laois RTÉ star to explore lost Slieve Blooms village

Rossmore Forest Park in Co Monaghan, which boasts a variety of walking trails around Rossmore Castle, surrounding lakes where fishing is available, family cycling trails, and nature tracks, attracted the second highest number of visits in 2024, with over 340,000 recorded. Ticknock in Co Dublin, which offers several walking and hiking trails, as well as mountain-bike tracks and orienteering courses, followed in third place with over 260,000 visits last year.

Over three million people visited Coillte’s top 50 most popular recreational woodlands and parks in 2024.

Coillte says the data indicate a growing interest from the public in local outdoor recreation, with many visitors to Coillte sites enjoying walks through recreational parks and woodlands where they can explore nature and biodiversity. It says there are also a host of activities available at various locations including cycling, fishing, orienteering, horse riding and ziplining.

Coillte adds it's the largest provider of outdoor recreation in Ireland with a total of 260 forest recreational areas, twelve forest parks and six mountain bike centres nationwide.

In 2024, counters at these locations were repositioned within the forest areas to permit more accurate data to be captured on visitor numbers.

Coillte’s head of recreation (and Birr native), Daithi de Forge, pointed out that as Ireland’s largest provider of outdoor recreation spaces, Coillte is delighted to see the growth in visitor numbers to three million, across its most popular recreational sites in 2024.

“This increase highlights the importance of outdoor recreation and reflects a growing demand by the public to spend time in nature,” he said.

Daithi said Storm Éowyn caused unprecedented damage in January to Coillte's productive and recreational forests, as well as to biodiversity areas across the country.

Almost 100 Coillte recreation locations were closed after the storm.

"We’re pleased that 92 of these sites have since reopened following significant efforts by the Coillte team, with just eight sites remaining closed at this time. These eight sites require detailed recovery works given the scale of the damage caused and we remain committed to recovering these eight sites and reopening them to the public as soon as possible,” he said.

Coillte said it's also pleased to continue its partnership with the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, which will enable the improvement and restoration of Coillte forests and amenities nationwide.

"With an open forest policy, Coillte is proud to support local businesses who enhance the services available in our forests, and we look forward to continuing the delivery of the highest quality outdoor recreation experiences for communities across Ireland,” said a statement.

For more information on Coillte recreation sites and forests, visit: www.coillte.ie.