To begin this walk, you can park opposite the graveyard. Plenty of space here and a handy information board on the various trails around Tara hill nearby. There is a Centra/Gala shop a few minutes down the road towards the school.
From the parking spot head about 100 metres west until you notice a small lane/road on your left – head up here. The lane gets increasingly steep and narrow. At certain points there wil be access points up onto the hill but stick with the lane.
After a while the tarmac gives way to gravel and then to grass and narrows further until it is barley wide enough for two people walking side by side. After about 500 metres it widens again and becomes a narrow road. You soon pass a cottage and then a small farm before joining a tarmac road again, coming out onto the hill lane car park. Follow the tarmac road as it heads up, affording views south along the coast towards Cahore point and beyond. You soon pass a very pretty tatched cottage and you are now in the trees. A little further on there is a gate and turnstyle on the left so head up here.
The trail now heads north before doing a U turn. Stick with the trail as there is an opening in the trees at a place called the flat rock with amazing views south along the coast.
At this point it is just a matter of heading uphill – there are various access routes to the summit trig point but i’d advise long trousers as there is a lot of gorse on the summit. The view from the summit is not as good as the flat rock due to the height of the trees but worth getting up there anyway.
For the way back find the “yellow” trail which will lead you downhill along a new forest road until you hit a tarmac road. Head left onto this road until you reach the church. A little after this is a Y junction – keep left and your starting point is reached a few 100 metres later.
Note – Coillte are currently doing their usual hiroshima style tree felling on Tara hill so you may find some trails blocked or impassable with new unmarked forest roads present. And lots of heavy duty machinery around (as of June 2011).