About Aasleagh Falls
Aasleagh Falls (Eas Liath in Irish Gaelic, meaning “grey waterfall”) is a wide block-type waterfall where the Erriff River is said to drop some 3.5m over a span of about 20m.
Situated near Connemara National Park near Ireland’s central west coast in County Galway, this was surprisingly lightly visited as well as one of the easier ones to access.
In fact, the wide open valley that the falls was situated in was reminiscent of the Chute de la Madeleine in New Caledonia.
That said, the difference here was that Aasleagh Falls could be one of the spots where salmon could be spotted swimming up river and trying to jump the waterfall to continue further upstream.
Apparently, someone we met at the waterfall had said that they witnessed such a spectacle the evening before the day that we showed up (unfortunately, we didn’t get to witness this during our visit).
As for accessing the Aasleagh Waterfall, we only had to go on a 400m walk from the car park (see directions below) to the sanctioned lookout.
This walk involved a combination of following the R335 Road to what appeared to be a former service road (there’s a disabled car park by the turnoff of this service road).
Along the way, we managed to get comprehensive views of the falls from the road bridge spanning the Erriff River, and we got profile views of the falls from the sanctioned lookout.
We noticed that there was a locked gate shortly before the sanctioned lookout, and I’d imagine it was put there to prevent people from scrambling to the banks of the river and possibly up to the base of the Aasleagh Falls.
Anyways, I noticed that the trail kept going past the sanctioned waterfall lookout so I did a little exploring just to see where it went.
From what I was able to tell, there was some kind of research facility or fishery or gauge just upstream of the brink of the Aasleagh Falls, and there was also some river access to some minor cascades further upstream.
The trail continued further upstream along the Erriff River, but I was content to turn around and return the way we came.
Overall, we had spent about 40 minutes away from the car though a lot of that time was spent chatting with the stranger who saw the salmon run here as well as my extra exploration further upstream (so the waterfall excursion could be shorter).
Authorities
Aasleagh Falls is near Connemara National Park near the Galway/Mayo border (a little over an hour’s drive from the city of Galway) in County Mayo, Ireland. It is administered by the Mayo County Council. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Mayo County Council website.
Aasleagh Falls resides near the Connemara National Park a short drive to the east of the Kylemore Abbey and near the town of Clifden.
We drove here from the city of Galway so that’s how I’ll describe the driving directions.
Drive from Galway to Aasleagh Falls
From the city centre of Galway, we drove to the northwest along the N59 for about 43km before reaching the signed road junction with the R336 on the right.
We’d then turn right onto the R336 and follow this road for about 7.5km before crossing a bridge towards a three-way intersection.
Turning left at this junction to remain on the R336, we’d then continue another 13.6km before turning right at the next junction to head north on the N59 Road.
After about 3.3km on the N59, we then turned left onto the R335 (signs for Aasleagh Falls should be seen by now), and we then followed the R335 for 700m to the car park for the waterfall (there are spaces on both sides of the road).
Overall, this 68km drive should take a little over an hour.
Drive from Clifden to Aasleagh Falls
By the way, if you’re coming from Clifden, you’d be driving the N59 Road east for about 37km before turning left onto the R335 Road.
Then you’d go the final 700m to the Aasleagh Falls car park.
This roughly 38km drive should take about 45-60 minutes.
Note that the Kylemore Abbey is about half-way along the stretch of the N59 between Clifden and the turnoff for the R335 Road.
For context, Clifden is about 78km (over an hour drive) northwest of Galway, about 66km (over an hour drive) southwest of Westport, 151km (under 2 hours drive) northwest of Ennis, 147km (about 2.5 hours drive) northwest of Liscannor, 176km (about 2.5 hours drive) northwest of Ennistymon, about 147km (about 2.5 hours drive) northwest of Doolin, 166km (about 2 hours drive) northwest of Shannon, 185km (about 2.5 hours drive) northwest of Limerick, about 163km (about 2.5 hours drive) southwest of Sligo, and 285km (over 3 hours drive) west of Dublin.
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First look at the falls from before the bridge before walking to the start of the bridge for a downstream and upstream perspective
Brief 360 degree sweep from the middle of the bridge ending up with a focus on the falls and cascades downstream of it
Downstream to upstream semi-circular sweep from the nearest lookout of an angled view of the falls with someone fishing at the brink
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