At 2,257 feet/687 meters high, the enormous Croaghaun Cliffs on Achill Island are officially the highest sea cliffs in Ireland.
Although there are several ways of reaching them, I am going to cover the trail from Keem Bay in this guide as it is, in my opinion, the route that will best suit most people.
Here’s a speedy overview of the Croaghaun hike:
- Length: 5km/2-3 hours
- Starting point: Keem Bay
- Difficulty: Strenuous
Some quick need-to-knows about Croaghaun Cliffs: The highest sea cliffs in Ireland
The hike up to the famous Achill cliffs isn’t straightforward and there are several warnings to take note of:
1. Location
You’ll find the Croaghaun Cliffs hidden away at the western end of Achill Island on the northern side of the towering Croaghaun Mountain, on the other side of Keem Bay.
2. Height
The Croaghaun sea cliffs stand at a mind-boggling 2,257 feet/687 meters. They are the third highest in Europe after Hornelen in Norway (2,821 feet/860 meters) and Cape Enniberg on the Faroe Islands (2,474 feet/754 meters).
3. How long it takes
The version of the Croaghaun hike outlined below will take 2 – 3 hours, depending on pace.
4. Difficulty
The Croaghaun hike is a strenuous trail so you’ll need a good level of fitness. It is very steep for prolonged periods at 3 different points.
5. Safety warning A
A large part of the trail outlined below takes you within close proximity of cliff edge. Please stay as far back from the edge as you can. It gets very windy up there so please use great caution at all times.
6. Safety warning B
The conditions around Croaghaun Mountain can change quickly and fog/mist can descend fast. This is the last place you want to be with limited visibility, so the ability to navigate is essential.
An overview of the Croaghaun Mountain hike
I’m going to break down each section of the hike up to see the Croaghaun sea cliffs for you below.
Remember, this is a hike for the more seasoned hill walkers and this guide isn’t a substitute for a map and compass.
Keep in mind that there are multiple different starting points and multiple routes you can take on the Croaghaun hike, with some trails taking 4+ hours to complete.
Below, you’ll find one of the shorter routes from Keem Beach.
1. Parking
The handiest place to park is the Lower Car Park at Keem Bay. If that’s full, park in the Upper Car Park and stroll down.
If both of those car parks are full, you’ll find some space in the car park near Corrymore Lake.
The walk down from Corrymore is nice and scenic and you’ll be treated to gorgeous views out over the bay.
There’s a toilet just up from Keem, too, which is handy.
2. Starting off the walk
When you’ve parked up, you’ll need to make your way up the hill across from the beach. There’s usually a fairly easy to see trail here.
This is a pretty steep section and, if you visit early in the morning when the grass is wet or after rainfall, it can be very slippy, so be careful.
Keep heading up and eventually you’ll reach level ground.
You should start to hear the waves crashing against the cliffs that are situated right in front of you.
3. Head over to the ruins of the old disused coastguard lookout station
If you look to your left, you’ll see a small building off in the distance (see photo above) – the ruins of an old disused coastguard lookout station.
Make your way over here. It’s a steepish slog, but it’ll be much handier than the ascent from the beach.
To your left, you’ll have glorious views of Keem.
To your right, there’s a sheer drop, so please make sure to give it a wide birth!
The building (Charles Boycott’s house) is a good place to catch a breather and to soak up some aerial views of Keem Bay and Achill Island.
4. Making your way towards the Benmore Cliffs
From Charles Boycott’s house, you need to carefully walk towards the Benmore Cliffs.
PLEASE use great caution here and avoid going anywhere near the cliff edge!
This is a long, very steep slog in places and the trail can feel like it goes on forever .
The one saving grace is that you have a mighty view out over Keem and beyond behind you if you need a breather!
5. The view of the Benmore Cliffs
Your reward for conquering the steep stretch is a glorious view of the Benmore Cliffs.
These are regularly mistaken for the Cliffs of Croaghaun, but Croaghaun Mountain is off to your right from this point.
Catch your breath here – at this point, you’ll have already walked around 2.8km, most of it uphill!
6. The trail to the Croaghaun Cliffs viewpoint
You’ll descend for a bit after leaving the previous stop, but you have one final incline left to tackle.
Thankfully, it’s not as steep as the previous 2, so it shouldn’t pose much of a problem.
Soon enough, you’ll see 2 lakes below you along with the Croaghaun’s slope.
Continue on and you’ll see the Cliffs of Croaghaun from the spot in the photo above.
7. The return to Keem
The final leg of the Croaghaun hike measures around 2.2km.
You’ll be happy to hear its nice and flat.
Again, this section can get very boggy after any kind of rainfall, so good walking boots will come in handy!
A Google map of the Croaghaun hike
The black markers on the Croaghaun hike map above show the two different places that you can park: Keem and Corrymore Lake.
The purple marker on the right shows roughly where Charles Boycott’s house is.
The purple marker on the left is roughly where you’ll get a good view of the Bremore Cliffs while the furthest marker is where you’ll get a view of the highest cliffs in Ireland!
Things to do nearby
One of the beauties of the Croaghaun cliffs is that they’re a short spin away from plenty of other places to visit on Achill.
If you hop into our guide to the best things to do on Achill Island, you’ll find more walks, a scenic drive and much more.
If you want to follow a logical itinerary, I’d recommend the Atlantic Drive (see image above).
You can find some great places to stay in our Achill accommodation guide. Cheers!
FAQs about visiting the Cliffs of Croaghaun
We’ve had a lot of questions over the years asking about everything from are the Croaghaun cliffs really the highest sea cliffs in Ireland to how to reach them
In the section below, we’ve popped in the most FAQs that we’ve received. If you have a question that we haven’t tackled, ask away in the comments section below.
How do you get to the Croaghaun cliffs?
There are multiple ways of getting up to see the highest sea cliffs in Ireland. The most straightforward, in our opinion, is the route from Keem (see above).
What are the highest sea cliffs in Ireland?
The highest sea cliffs in Ireland are the Croaghaun cliffs, however, some travel guides would lead you to believe it’s Slieve League.
Where do you park for the Croaghaun hike?
You can park in multiple places, but the most popular are at Keem and at Corrymore Lake.
Keith O’Hara has lived in Ireland for 35 years and has spent most of the last 10 creating what is now The Irish Road Trip guide. Over the years, the website has published thousands of meticulously researched Ireland travel guides, welcoming 30 million+ visitors along the way. In 2022, the Irish Road Trip team published the world’s largest collection of Irish Road Trip itineraries. Keith lives in Dublin with his dog Toby and finds writing in the 3rd person minus craic altogether.
Kevin Quinn
Tuesday 24th of January 2023
Just to clarify - only the third picture in this post is taken from the 687 meter Croghan Cliffs. The high point you see in most of these pictures is Benmore, which is just over 300 meters high. The high point of the Croghan Cliffs lies to the northeast (right), outside of these pictures. Though the cliffs shown in these pictures are not the high ones, they are probably the most picturesque - and a lot easier to get to than the high point.
John Sweeney
Tuesday 29th of June 2021
The building you refer to as Captain Boycott's House is in fact an old disused coastguard lookout station. Caption Boycott's House is back towards the lough shown to the east on your map as a parking spot (well the car park is next to the lough to be more accurate - which is the source for mains water on the island). Boycott's House can be seen on the right hand side as you drive towards Keem Bay on the rise after you pass Dooagh.
As a side note when I was a boy first visiting Keem Bay with my father in about the late 1970's (an Achill man) we were told that some years before a German visitor set up camp with his tent up on the Croghaun hill in the lee of the station but tragically his tent was blown away during the night and him with it into the bay. That story gets rolled out for my own family each time we visit. Campers take note!
Phil McHale
Saturday 28th of March 2020
How do you square these two statements? The cliffs at Slieve League are pretty damn big (1,972 feet/601 meters) and they are in fact the highest sea cliffs on the island of Ireland.
However, the title of ‘the highest sea cliffs in Ireland’ goes to the enormous Croaghaun Cliffs on Achill Island in County Mayo.
Surely Croaghaun Cliffs are the highest in both Ireland (Republic of) and the island of Ireland?
Or am I missing something?