• Car Park: Located just outside the town of Passage West, see HERE
• Distance: 2.3kms (1.4 miles)
• Time: Approx 30 mins.
• Scenery: Nice views out of Lough Mahon and across to Fota Wildlife Park.
• Flat Hilly: Old railway line, dead flat.
• Difficulty: 1 out of 5 – Very easy.
• Noise pollution: Nice and quiet as this walk is some distance from the nearest road.
• Safety: Popular walk with local residents during daylight hours. Get’s quiet after 8pm in the Winter.
• Lighting: Mostly illuminated. Dark in sections.
• Notes: Wheelchair/Buggy friendly. A nice short scenic walk.

Description

This easy walk starts at the Roberts Bridge Car Park and heads east alongside the shoreline to Passage West. This Greenway is situated on the route of the old Cork to Crosshaven railway line and is completely level for this walk.

The photo above shows the Greenway sign pointing towards Passage West.

From the Greenway, you can look north-east across Lough Mahon to the southern tip of Little Island.

After 240-metres, you come to a spot which allow easy access to the rocky shoreline. This is a popular spot for small children to throw stones into the water.

After 420-metres, you will see the imposing Rockenham House up high on the right.

This is really a very nice section of Greenway as the trees form a sort of tunnel overhead and there is no noise from cars. If you listen carefully, you may hear the sound of the Cork to Cobh train at the other side of the harbour or the Howler Monkeys 3kms away in Fota Wildlife Park.

After another 100-metres, the Greenway becomes a causeway as the start of a lagoon appears on the right hand side.

As the pond on the right gets larger, there is a nice view across to an old house called Lee Carrow with an impressive Monkey Puzzle tree in its front garden.

Just beyond at the 780m mark, you come to Abbot’s Bridge…

Underneath this bridge, the tides rushes in and out twice a day to fill and empty the small lagoon known locally as Sandy’s Pond.

This is a popular spot at low tide for children fishing for crabs hiding in the rocks underneath the bridge.

As you continue the walk, there is a nice view out over the harbour to Great Island on the other side with a flotilla of small boats tied up near Passage West.

At 1.15kms, you come to the start of Patrick Murphy park and the turn around point for this particular walk.

At this point, you can still see the support pillars for the foot bridge that crossed over the old railway line.

This allowed fisherman and boat owners to safely access the slipway without having to cross the railway line.

From this point, you return to Robert’s Bridge on the left again to make it a pleasant 2.3km walk.