Torc Waterfall

Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland

About Torc Waterfall


Hiking Distance: 800m round-trip
Suggested Time: 15 minutes

Date first visited: 2024-07-09
Date last visited: 2024-07-09

Waterfall Latitude: 52.00361
Waterfall Longitude: -9.50569

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Torc Waterfall (or Easach Toirc in Irish Gaelic) resides in Killarney National Park at the base of Torc Mountain, which is pretty much adjacent to the touristy town of Killarney in the Ring of Kerry.

As a result of being so close to the town, this could very well be the most famous waterfall in the Ring of Kerry, which is one of several rugged peninsulas in the southwest of Ireland.

Torc_Waterfall_018_07092024 - The Torc Waterfall
The Torc Waterfall

This peninsula is known for both historical and scenic highlights (of which the Torc Waterfall is one such highlight), and this includes the Skelling Islands (of Star Wars fame) off its coast.

Anyways, the Torc Waterfall is where the Owengariff River cascades with a cumulative height of a reported 20m over a run of about 110m.

Apparently, the word torc is Irish Gaelic meaning “wild boar” perhaps due to a few legends concerning this animal.

Among these legends, one told of a werewolf-like transformation of a man cursed by the Devil to turn into a wild boar every night.

Torc_Waterfall_006_07092024 - The well-established trail along the Owengariff River on the short jaunt to the Torc Waterfall
The well-established trail along the Owengariff River on the short jaunt to the Torc Waterfall

Another legend told of how an Irish warrior named Fionn MacCumhaill managed to kill a magic boar on Torc Mountain with a golden spear.

In any case, visiting this waterfall can be as short and easy as a 300m jaunt from the nearest car park, but it could also involve a bit of a longer hike depending on where you park.

The parking situation can actually be more contentious, and it may involve parking as far as the lots near the Muckross House or even further away closer to the outskirts of Killarney.

Nevertheless, I managed to visit this waterfall from the nearest car park, which only took me about 5 minutes in each direction.

Torc_Waterfall_060_07092024 - Looking back at the Torc Waterfall Trail going through a grove of oak and yew trees
Looking back at the Torc Waterfall Trail going through a grove of oak and yew trees

The lookout of the waterfall is right where the trail started to climb up some steps leading towards an upper car park off the Old Kenmare Road.

Its cascading characteristic combined with the short and easy walk to get here made this a compelling waterfall for landscape photographers.

It didn’t take much time to really experience this waterfall, and thus I wound up spending about 30 minutes away from the car.

Authorities

The Torc Waterfall is in Killarney National Park near the city of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. It is administered by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the National Parks website.

Torc_Waterfall_005_07092024 - Sign at the trailhead of the Torc Waterfall with different options for circular walks concerning the waterfall
Torc_Waterfall_008_07092024 - On the forested short trail leading to the Torc Waterfall
Torc_Waterfall_009_07092024 - Continuing to walk towards the Torc Waterfall within the forested area near it
Torc_Waterfall_011_07092024 - Looking towards the Owengariff River and some cascades downstream of the Torc Waterfall
Torc_Waterfall_013_07092024 - Approaching the steps at the lookout for the Torc Waterfall
Torc_Waterfall_014_07092024 - First look at the Torc Waterfall from the lookout at the base of the steps
Torc_Waterfall_016_07092024 - Portrait look at the Torc Waterfall
Torc_Waterfall_026_07092024 - Slightly lower look at the Torc Waterfall from just beneath the lookout area in long exposure
Torc_Waterfall_046_07092024 - Long exposure zoomed in look at the Torc Waterfall from just beneath the lookout area
Torc_Waterfall_053_07092024 - Last look back at the Torc Waterfall before heading back to the car
Torc_Waterfall_062_07092024 - Checking out the moss-covered trees around the short jaunt to and from the Torc Waterfall
Torc_Waterfall_066_07092024 - The toilet facility at the nearest car park for the Torc Waterfall


The Torc Waterfall resides very close to the city of Killarney.

Due to the limited amount of spaces for the car park closest to the waterfall combined with its proximity to the town of Killarney (and resulting popularity), there can be a bit of confusion about what the fallback options are if parking spaces are full.

Killarney_011_07092024 - The city centre of Killarney is very tourist friendly so it's no surprise that the Torc Waterfall's proximity to it also caused problems in terms of traffic as well as parking
The city centre of Killarney is very tourist friendly so it’s no surprise that the Torc Waterfall’s proximity to it also caused problems in terms of traffic as well as parking

So in this section, I’ll describe each of the options that I’m aware of starting with the closest lot (which we managed to score).

Each of the directions assumes we’re starting from the oval roundabout where the R877 and N71 roads intersect in the city centre of Killarney (just south of the St Mary’s Church of Ireland).

By the way, as far as I know, all of these parking options are free (we can confirm this for both the Torc Waterfall car park as well as the Muckross House and Garden car park).

The Closest Car Park by N71 Road

From the oval roundabout, we took the N71 going south for about 6.6km to the car park for the Torc Waterfall on the left.

Drive_to_Killarney_dinner_008_MingSung_07092024 - Looking back at the Irish Franciscans Monastery from the N71 just to the east of the oval roundabout in the city centre of Killarney
Looking back at the Irish Franciscans Monastery from the N71 just to the east of the oval roundabout in the city centre of Killarney

The walk from this car park to the Torc Waterfall is about 250-300m each way on a very gentle and well-developed trail.

This drive should take no more than 15 minutes (with most of the time consumed in the traffic jams in Killarney), but it really depends on the traffic situation.

As far as I could recall, there was probably parking for about 3-4 dozen cars at most (don’t quote me on this) at this car park.

The point is that this lot fills up quickly, and we were able to score it because we showed up late in the afternoon (almost around early dinner time) when after a spout of rainy weather.

Torc_Waterfall_002_07092024 - At the closest car park to the Torc Waterfall
At the closest car park to the Torc Waterfall

If the parking here is full, then you’d have to pursue other options, which I’ll get to below.

The Upper Car Park from Old Kenmare Road

The next closest option for parking is the so-called Upper Car Park along the Old Kenmare Road.

This car park goes down a somewhat steep trail with steps to make the walking more manageable.

It’s probably slightly longer than the trail from the nearest car park, and the elevation loss (and gain on the return) means you’ll have to provide a little more physical exertion.

Drive_to_Killarney_dinner_014_MingSung_07092024 - The City Centre of Killarney is very touristy so the Torc Waterfall's proximity to the city also made that place very popular
The City Centre of Killarney is very touristy so the Torc Waterfall’s proximity to the city also made that place very popular

In any case, to get to this car park from the oval roundabout in Killarney, we’d drive south on the N71 for about 5.3km to a signed turnoff on the left for Old Kenmare Road.

This turnoff just 300m south of the signed turnoff for the Muckross House and Gardens.

Once on the Old Kenmare Road, then we’d drive for another 1.7km to the National Park car park on the left.

Overall, this drive should also take around 15 minutes or so.

Torc_Waterfall_012_07092024 - Near the lookout of the Torc Waterfall were steps ascending towards its top and eventually to the Old Kenmare Road and the Upper Car Park
Near the lookout of the Torc Waterfall were steps ascending towards its top and eventually to the Old Kenmare Road and the Upper Car Park

This car park could accommodate more vehicles than the nearest one to the Torc Waterfall mentioned earlier.

However, you have to keep in mind that many people parking here are also pursuing summiting Torc Mountain or other longer hikes.

So this option can also fill up pretty quickly, especially during the busier times of the day (i.e. not early morning or not late afternoon/early evening).

Car Park West of Closest Car Park by N71 Road

A third option for parking the car to pursue the Torc Waterfall is via a car park west of the waterfall’s nearest car park.

Drive_back_to_Kenmore_017_MingSung_07092024 - There were actually a couple of routes between Killarney and Kenmare - one via the N22 and R569 (which GoogleMaps prefers and is shown here) and the other via the N71 over the Molls Gap (which is the one with the extra car parks to the west of the nearest one to the Torc Waterfall)
There were actually a couple of routes between Killarney and Kenmare – one via the N22 and R569 (which GoogleMaps prefers and is shown here) and the other via the N71 over the Molls Gap (which is the one with the extra car parks to the west of the nearest one to the Torc Waterfall)

This is one about 500m further to the west of the Torc Waterfall car park as well as another one about 1.2km further to the west than that along the N71 Road (or 1.7km west of the nearest car park).

Therefore, depending on which one you park at, that will extend the walk to the Torc Waterfall by this distance (or up to 3.4km round trip more than the requisite 500-600m walk).

Most of this distance involves walking along the N71 Road, which doesn’t have pedestrian shoulders or margins so you’d definitely want to exercise caution when walking along this road.

So the drive should also take around 15 minutes or so, but the walk can easily involve about 2 hours or so.

The Old Muckross House Car Park

Muckross_House_005_07092024 - The Muckross House is likely the last free option for finding parking and hiking to the Torc Waterfall as well as visiting this estate
The Muckross House is likely the last free option for finding parking and hiking to the Torc Waterfall as well as visiting this estate

Finally, if all of the aforementioned car parks are full or too stressful to wait for a spot, then it’s possible to park at the Muckross House and Garden.

Parking here was free when we visited in July 2024 (though we parked here only to visit the house and gardens).

However, it would involve about 2.6km walk in each direction (or 5.2km round-trip) to the nearest car park, and then another 250m or so walk (500m round-trip) to the waterfall.

So from the oval roundabout in Killarney city centre, we drove about 5km south on the N71 to the signed turnoff for Muckross House and Gardens on the right.

Muckross_House_002_07092024 - The Muckross House and Garden has a large, elongated car park that's free and also has plenty of space, but the drawback is that it's a pretty far walk to get to the Torc Waterfall from here
The Muckross House and Garden has a large, elongated car park that’s free and also has plenty of space, but the drawback is that it’s a pretty far walk to get to the Torc Waterfall from here

Once we got to the elongated semi-circular car park, we’d then either walk along the N71 to the car park closest to the Torc Waterfall or follow the eastern shore of Muckross Lake before cutting to the car park closest to the Torc Waterfall.

Either way, you’re looking at a pretty solid 3-hour or so excursion to cover this longer distance.

For context, Killarney is about 42km (under 60 minutes drive) north of Kenmare, about 67km (over an hour drive) north of Glengarriff, 64km (over an hour drive) southeast of Dingle, about 77km (over an hour drive) south of Tarbert, 78km (about 90 minutes drive) east of Portmagee, 88km (about 90 minutes drive) northwest of Cork, about 117km (under 2 hours drive) southwest of Limerick, and 308km (about 4 hours drive) southwest of Dublin.

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Downstream to upstream sweep from the view of the falls at the bend in the stepped trail


Downstream to upstream sweep from below the viewing area closer to the stream

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Tagged with: killarney, national park, owengarriff, torc mountain, kerry, ireland, muckross, munster



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Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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