Killarney National Park Map and Boundary

Hours, prices and access verified by the Killarney National Park Tours team — last checked August 13, 2026

25,425 acres running from the back of Killarney town up into the mountains, with five useful ways in and no fence anywhere. What a map will not tell you is the thing you need: which entrance do I use to reach the thing I came for.

The park at a glance — 25,425 acres in four parts

Think of it as four blocks that grew together. Knockreer sits against the town. Ross Island juts into Lough Leane just south of it. Muckross is the big central demesne between Muckross Lake and the N71. Beyond them the ground climbs into Torc, Mangerton and the Reeks, which is where the trails get serious.

The three Lakes of Killarney thread through all four. The N71 Kenmare road runs the length of the park and is the spine everything hangs off — every entrance below is either on it or a short turn from it.

Entrance 1 — Killarney House, on foot from the town centre

The gates on Muckross Road, beside Killarney House and Gardens. This is the only entrance you can reach on foot from the railway station in ten minutes, which makes it the one to use if you have arrived without a car. Free parking at the cathedral car park opposite.

Reaches: Knockreer, the Deenagh Lodge path, the Knockreer Circular walk, and the open parkland view of the Reeks.

Entrance 2 — Ross Road, for the castle and the boats

South off the edge of town, about two and a half kilometres, with a car park at the end of it. This is the only way to the castle and the only jetty for boats to Innisfallen Island and Lord Brandon’s Cottage.

Reaches: Ross Castle, Ross Island, the Mining Trail, Library Point, Governor’s Rock, and every boat trip on Lough Leane.

Entrance 3 — Muckross, off the N71

Six kilometres south of town on the Kenmare road, with the largest car park in the park and no charge to use it. If you are only making one stop, make it this one: the house, the gardens, the abbey and the lakeshore all sit within a twenty-minute walk of the same car park.

Reaches: Muckross House, Gardens and Traditional Farms, Muckross Abbey, the Lakeside Walk, Arthur Young’s Walk, Mossy Woods, and Reenadinna yew wood.

Entrance 4 — Torc, a little further down the N71

Signposted a couple of kilometres past Muckross, with its own car park at the foot of the falls. It fills by mid-morning in July and August, and the overflow is a walk back along a busy road, so come early.

Reaches: Torc Waterfall, the Dundag to Torc path, the Old Kenmare Road, and the climb up Torc Mountain.

Entrance 5 — Ladies’ View and the high road south

Nineteen kilometres south of Killarney on the N71, a roadside viewpoint with a car park and a cafe. Beyond it the road climbs to Moll’s Gap and drops toward Kenmare, leaving the park as it goes.

Reaches: the panorama over the Upper Lake, and the southern end of the park that no walk from town will get you to.

The N71 links all five of these in about half an hour of driving, which is its real use — it is a public road, not a scenic one, and in summer it is slow. The roads that make this park worth seeing, the carriage drives through Muckross and the track along the Lough Leane shore, are closed to cars entirely.

The three lakes, and which shore you are on

Lough Leane is the big northern one, with Ross Castle and Innisfallen in it and Knockreer along its top edge. Muckross Lake, also called the Middle Lake, sits south of it behind Muckross House. The Upper Lake is the smallest and highest, up toward Ladies’ View.

They connect through the channel at the Meeting of the Waters, spanned by the Old Weir Bridge. Boats run the whole chain from Ross Castle up to Lord Brandon’s Cottage at the head of the Upper Lake, which is how the classic Gap of Dunloe day gets back.

Which entrance for which landmark