A joust with Djouce

This mountain with the strange name and barren top gives wonderful views from the summit, writes SEÁN Mac CONNELL

ONE OF the most beautiful walks you can take not too far from Dublin city is up the east flank of Djouce Mountain from the main Enniskerry/ Roundwood road.

Djouce (725m) is a funny old mountain with a strange name and a barren top which gives wonderful views and on a good day, especially in the summer – if you look to the southeast you will be able to see Snowdon in Wales.

Djouce – or to give it its Irish name Dioghais, meaning fortified height – was part of the Powerscourt Estate. Your walk will take you through what was once part of the Royal Oak forest of Glencree.

To get the very best of this, I suggest you take the road from Enniskerry to Roundwood and swinging to your right 200m after passing the signs for Powerscourt Waterfall, head uphill taking in the beautiful views to your right of Maulin Mountain and Djouce.

When you reach the forest on your right look out for a parking space. Many of the small parking areas which the council had provided in that area are now blocked off by boulders, but my preference is for a parking area when you reach the top of the hill, which provides you with the first real glimpse of the Powerscourt Waterfall.

Your target should be the top of Djouce, so head into the woods, which are criss-crossed with paths, and head south, gently walking downwards to the floor of the valley. The views are fantastic and so too is the bird and animal life.

Keep your eyes open for the merlin, commonly known as “the lady’s hawk”. It is one of the few places in the mountains where you will come across her. Watch out too for deer, foxes and badgers, and you might be lucky enough to hear or even see our latest returnee, the woodpecker.

This is because you will be walking through old forest with oaks and other broadleaf trees interspersed with beech and chestnut, lodgepole pine and Douglas fir.

At the foot of the valley, swing to your left when you find a series of ponds, which I gather were constructed by the Powerscourt family to provide water for the Powerscourt fountains, but the dams around them have been damaged and degraded.

Stay to the left of the ponds, until you come to where they are fed by a stream at the edge of the forest. Cross the stream there and pick up the path at the edge of the wood, which will bring you eventually to the top of Djouce Mountain.

Follow this path to the right as it winds its way along the side of the forest and eventually brings you to open ground on the flank of Djouce, where to your right you will see the Dargle River as it flows down the valley from Tonduff North, with a bridge and a path leading from there up the side of Maulin.

Turn left here, picking up a well-walked path to the top of Djouce, which is an easy enough climb, but your body will know you have been out for the day by the time you have your shower later in the evening.

The views from Djouce are spectacular, especially to the south and, as I said, it is possible to see over to Wales if the weather is kind enough to let you.

Return by the same route, staying this time to the left of the ponds where you can still see the remains of a boathouse on the western side.

The hardest bit of the walk is not climbing Djouce but following the paths up to where you left your car. Climbing at the end of the day can be hard, but I guarantee it is worth it.

You can shorten your day by parking closer to Roundwood and there is even one large car park not too far from where you cross the river on your way up, but to be honest, you will lose the real beauty of this wonderful place if you fail to walk down into the valley from the point I indicated.

I like to allow up to four hours for this walk, but it can be done in less time if needs be.

Djouce mountain, Co Wicklow

Starting pointAny parking place on the Roundwood/Enniskerry road two miles after turning off the R760 at Ballybawn.

TimeAllow four hours including rest stops, but can be done in under three.

SuitabilityModerate walk but not for a novice. Be sure to bring rain gear, compass, hot food and map.

MapOrdnance survey Discovery Series, sheet 56.

Distance10km.

Refreshments and accommodationEnniskerry and Roundwood.