The Diamond Hill Hike In Galway: Trail Overview + Maps
There are 2 versions of the Diamond Hill hike – the Lower Trail and the Upper Trail.
You’ll find Diamond Hill in Galway – head for Connemara National Park in Letterfrack and there’s a large car park at the visitor centre.
Below, I’ll take you through both trails (there’s a map for each):
- The Upper Trail: 6km long and takes around 2 hours
- The Lower Trail: 2.8km long and takes around 45 minutes
Some quick need-to-knows about the Diamond Hill hike
The Diamond Hill loop walks are straightforward once you understand the lay-of-the-land. Here’s some key info:
1. Location
Diamond Hill in Galway is part of the Twelve Bens Mountain range in Connemara. It is located in Letterfrack, a 20-minute drive from Clifden, a 40-minute drive from Roundstone and a 1 hour and 15-minute drive from Galway City.
2. Height
Diamond Hill stands at 1,450 ft (442 metres) in height. While it isn’t one of the most challenging walks in Galway, it is one of the most rewarding view-wise.
3. Parking + warning
There is a large car park at the visitor centre (here on maps). Please note, as this is one of the more popular things to do in Galway, it can get very busy during the summer months, so arrive early.
4. The two trails
The Lower Trail is 2.8km long and takes around 45 minutes. While steepish in places, it will be doable for those with moderate fitness. The Upper Trail is 6km long and takes around 2 hours. It’s pretty steep at times, so you’ll need good mobility and decent fitness levels.
An overview of the two Diamond Hill walks
Take a moment to look at the map above, as it’ll give you a quick glimpse at where both trails take you.
As you can see, the lower trail avoids the steep hike to the summit while the upper trail offers an outstanding view of Connemara National Park on a clear day.
Below, you’ll find an overview of each route.
1. The Lower Diamond Hill walk
The Lower Diamond Hill walk is a looped trail that measures 2.8km in length.
Although doable for those with moderate fitness levels, it does have some modest climbs along the way.
I know of several people that have done this trail with kids (10+) and found it very doable.
While you won’t get the eagle-eye view that the summit affords, you’ll still be able to enjoy fantastic views of the surrounding Connemara countryside, coastline, and islands.
Things to know
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Time to climb: 45 minutes
- Starting point: Connemara National Park Visitor Centre
2. The Upper Diamond Hill walk
The Upper Diamond Hill walk is a continuation of the Lower Trail. It takes you up to the summit of Diamond Hill via a narrow ridge of quartzite that stretches for around half a kilometre.
For those that fancy giving this a go, the entire circuit of the Lower and Upper trails measures around 7km and should take you around 2 hours.
At the 445m-high summit, you’ll be treated to panoramic views across all of Connemara. Few hikes in Ireland offer a view that compares.
Things to know
- Difficulty: Strenuous
- Time to climb: 2 hours
- Starting point: Connemara National Park Visitor Centre
Places to visit nearby
When you finish up, you’re a stone’s throw from a heap of other things to do in Connemara. Here are a few suggestions:
- Clifden Town (18-minute drive)
- The Sky Road (23-minute drive)
- Kylemore Abbey (7-minute drive)
- Glassilaun Beach (18-minute drive)
- Leenaun (23-minute drive)
Keith O’Hara has lived in Ireland for 35 years and has spent much of the last 13 creating what is now The Irish Road Trip guide. Over the years, the website has published thousands of meticulously researched Ireland travel guides, welcoming 40 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.
Would you recommend to do this hiking on November’s second half or is it not a good ideia because of the weather?
Hi Igor,
Your best bet is to wait until you arrive and then make your decision based on the weather.
The weather in Ireland in November, like many months, can be unpredictable.
It could be dry and cold or there could be heavy rain, strong winds, and sub-zero temperatures.
Check the weather in advance and base your decision on that.
Cheers,
Keith
Did this recently with my 5 year old daughter and 7 year old son and they loved it. Although no view from the very top due to cloud cover, the tops of the surrounding hills appearing above the clouds was magical. The view can disappear quickly too… it was crystal clear at the top a few hours earlier when we were looking up at it from Kylemore Abbey (which is nearby and also worth visiting).
Hi I have climbed croagh patrick is this long walk more or less difficult in comparison?
Hi Valarie – having done both, I found Croagh Patrick much harder. While Diamond Hill is steep in places, it’s more of a gradual ascent, so you should find it at much more casual climb that Patrick.
Well Boss!
Hoping to do this hike for sunrise next week.. any idea how much time we should allow to reach the summit rather than the time of the whole circuit? Young couple in our 20s and rearing for road so! Cheers
Hi Conor! I’m trying to remember how long it took myself and one of the lads last summer. I think it was around 45 – 55 minutes at a quick pace, as far as I remember. It defo took us longer to get back down!
That’ll be class – enjoy!
Thank you for sharing this info…looks like a great hike! We are in the early stages of planning our trip to Ireland in Sept and love to find great hikes with views. Any other highly suggested hikes? We plan to focus on the the lower half of the island, with Connemara being at the north end of our itineary and we will have 11 days total on the ground there. We are fit and advid hikers back here in Oregon USA
Hi Keith, thanks for this handy description. When you say 3h for the upper trail, you mean 3h to go from the visitor centre to the summit, right? Will I also need 3h to come back to the centre you think?
Thanks!
Hey Lisa. No that’s 3 hours for the entire walk including the upper trail! I think the last time we did it it took us 3.5 hours in total, but we spent a good 30 – 40 minutes at the summit having a bit of food.
It’s a lovely ramble – enjoy it (and hopefully the weathers nice and clear for you!!)
Cheers,
Keith
Hi. For the lower walk, could I bring a buggy or is a baby carrier essential?
Hey Anne-Marie. As far as I can remember from doing this walk last summer, you wouldn’t be able to do it with a buggy. I could be wrong, but I remember the start of the walk being very gravelly underfoot. Again, I may be wrong! Enjoy the trip!
Is the Diamond Hill walk in Connemara a loop walk or do you go up and down the same way ?
Hey Terence,
The short walk is a up-and-down-the-same-way job. The longer walk is a loop. So you follow the trail from the visitor centre/car park and you follow a path that winds up to the summit. You then continue over the summit and follow the trail back around to the car park.
Safe climbing!
Keith
Hi thinking of going to Connemara in January and doing the Diamond Hill. Do you recommend any accomodation nearby?
Are u allowed to jog it…..looks super …views ti die for .
Thanks
Hi Ian – I know when we did it a couple of summers back there were two people running it. I’d say, if that’s your plan, try and do it early, when it’s quiet.
Hey! Thank you so much for this post! Going there on on the first week of April, was thinking of doing this hike to catch the sunset from the top.. Do you think that’s a good idea? I saw a comment of yours saying it took you much longer to go back down, so now I am a bit worried as I do not want to do the way back in the dark.. How long did it take you to go down? Thank you in advance! xx
Hey Raquel. I can’t remember exactly how long it took, as it’s been a while. I’d estimate around 45 minutes, but I could be wrong. It definitely wouldn’t be a good spot to get stuck in the dark, though, so it might be worth aiming to get up around sunrise instead.
Safe climbing!
Hi, thank you for this nice article, interesting and with beautiful pictures! One question: we will come to Ireland in August and we want to try the upper trail to Diamond Hill. Our 10-year-old daughter is with us. She is used to walk on the mountains, but do you think the path could be dangerous for her? Are there any narrow, steep or dangerous spots?
Thank you very much!
Hey Nicolas – there’s definitely plenty of steep sections. There’s also many dangerous spots if you stray off the main trail. However, in my experience of sticking to the trail, I found it perfectly safe. Just keep vigilant and make sure you all stay on the trail. Have a great trip!
We just did the lower Diamond Hill walk as there were extremely strong gusts of wind. It is a very easy walk and took no more than 45 minutes for the round trip. The view at the top was nice but the trail was too busy for my liking, and this was in early September, rather than the very peak months of July and August.