Kayak one of Ireland's most famous tourist attractions!
Explore the Lakes of Killarney by Kayak. This trip starts at Ross Castle visiting Bronze-Age copper mines and has options of visiting the 6th Century monastic site on Innisfallem Island.
Half Day Tour
Times: 10am Tue, Wed, Thurs and Fri
Weekends and afternoons also available upon request
The Lakes of Killarney
Central to Killarney National Park are the world famous Lakes of Killarney, which make up almost a quarter of the Park's area.
The three lakes are known as the Upper Lake, Muckross Lake (Middle Lake) and Lough Leane (Lower Lake), and are joined at the 'meeting of the waters', a popular area for visitors to the Park. It is here that the Old Weir Bridge (thought to be over 400 years old) can also be seen.From the meeting of the waters a narrow channel known as the Long Range leads to the Upper Lake, which is the smallest of the lakes but set in the most spectacular location, in the heart of the rugged mountain scenery of the upper Killarney Valley/Black Valley area. The sandstone and blanket bog of the catchment area means that the Upper and Middle Lakes are slightly acidic and low in nutrients (oligotrophic). A fast run-off in the mountainous catchment also means that in heavy rain the level of the entire Upper Lake can sometimes rise by up to a metre in a matter of a few hours.
Muckross Lake is the deepest of the lakes with a maximum depth of approximately 75 metres (250 feet) close to where the steeply sloping face of Torc Mountain enters the lake. Both Muckross Lake and Lough Leane lie astride the sandstone/limestone boundary, and the presence of limestone means that both of these lakes are slightly richer in natural nutrients than the Upper Lake. At lake level, there are many caves in the limestone which are formed by the dissolution effect of acidic waters on the exposed rock, especially when combined with wave action. Nowhere are these caves more marked than on the northern shore of Muckross Lake.
