Skibbereen Cycle Hub Loop 2

Cycling On Road
County Cork
2/5
2 reviews
Grade Challenging
Length 23.9 km
Am 2 hours 20 minutes
Format Loop
Ascent 251 m
Waymarking Blue text on white background
Start Point
Skibbereen Post Office
Finish Point
Skibbereen Post Office
Nearest Town to Start Skibbereen
Lat. and Long. 51.54964535, -9.270360768

This loop is south-west of Skibbereen and starts at the Heritage Centre, passing through a beautiful part of the country. There is an option to continue on a linear there-and-back section from Lough Nacartan to Baltimore. While the loop part is the easiest of the three Cycle Hub Loops, the linear section includes the challenging Lough Hyne, some very steep hills, narrow roads and poor surfaces. Care is required on some sections and at some junctions.

Maps and other information

OSI Maps

OSI Maps

Discovery Series Sheet 89
07/10/2014

amrita mellink from Netherlands

If you WALK the route from Skibbereen to Lough Hyne it is wonderful and cuts away from the main road. Totally recommendable!
2/5
08/26/2011

Mairead from Dublin

I was cycling in the area and I followed the signs for this trail from Baltimore to Lough Hyne. I thought it was awful. The route was obviously designed by a sadist, who brought you up the steepest hills in the area. The roads were so narrow that you had to stop every time a car came from either direction. The surfaces on the roads were very poor. On the descents, it was quite dangerous. I was riding a touring bike and carrying about 12 kilos and the descents were lethal. In my view one would need a mountain bike for these descents. There were no maps showing where the roads were going and no warning that some bikes, or cyclists, might not be up to it.



This is a beautiful part of the country and I was there on a glorious June day. I reckon I would have found a more pleasant, and safer, cycle if I'd worked it out for myself on an OS map.



I wonder if the people who devised the route have ever actually cycled it. If they have, have they done so with a young person whose cycling skills are not fully developed?

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