Overview
The Sky Road is a loop of about 16 km (10 mi) out of Clifden around the Kingston Peninsula, according to the Fáilte Ireland route guide. It climbs to a clifftop viewpoint high above the Atlantic, then drops back towards the coast. Drive it clockwise and the sea views sit on your left, opening out over Clifden Bay and its scatter of islands. Without stops the loop takes about an hour; with a pause at the viewpoint and a look at the coast, give it a half-day. If you do just one thing, take the Upper Road for the summit viewpoint.
The route is a public road and forms part of the Wild Atlantic Way.
Upper road or lower road
The loop divides into two branches. The Upper Road is the one people mean by ‘the Sky Road’: it climbs the spine of the peninsula to the signed Wild Atlantic Way viewpoint, with big, open views out over the bay and islands, before the circuit returns towards Clifden and the N59. The Lower Road is the branch closer to the shore. Take the bends slowly, watch for cyclists, and stop only where you can pull clear of traffic.
The Alcock and Brown landing site is not on this loop. It is on the separate Bog Road route south of town (see below).
Stops along the way
- Clifden. The loop starts and finishes in Clifden. Sort out fuel, food and toilets here before you set off, and check what is open, as the loop itself is a country road.
- Clifden Castle. The roofless shell of the house built by town founder John D’Arcy, around 1818, can be seen from the Sky Road route, and the Clifden Cycle Hub maps the route and identifies the ruins. Current access on foot has not been confirmed, so follow signs and do not cross private land to reach it.
- The summit viewpoint. The Upper Road reaches its high point a few kilometres from Clifden, at the signed viewpoint with a car park. It’s the obvious place to stop and watch the light move across the water. Keep the narrow road clear if you park.
- Eyrephort beach. Near the end of the peninsula, a small white-sand beach (marked Kingstown Bay on some maps) with rock pools and views out to the islands. The loop rejoins the N59 near here.
One caveat on the John D’Arcy monument, sometimes listed as a Sky Road stop: it stands on Memorial Hill about 1 km west of Clifden. It is reached on foot from the town rather than by pulling in off the road.
A bit of history
Clifden barely existed until John D’Arcy bought the estate in 1804 and had the engineer Alexander Nimmo lay out a quay and roads in the 1820s. The town grew fast, then was gutted by the Great Famine, after which the estate passed to the Eyre family.
The area’s aviation chapter came a century later, on Derrigimlagh bog south of town. In 1905 Guglielmo Marconi built a high-power transatlantic wireless station there, which carried the first fixed point-to-point wireless traffic between Europe and North America before closing in 1922. A year earlier, in June 1919, Alcock and Brown crash-landed their Vickers Vimy in the same bog, having flown the Atlantic non-stop. These sites are on a separate Bog Road route rather than the Sky Road loop. See the Alcock and Brown landing site for more, and leave time for the marked walk if you want to visit both in one day. The Sky Road peninsula also holds much older marks, from megalithic tombs to standing stones and promontory forts, if you know where to look.
Getting there and driving it
Clifden sits on the N59 between Galway city (77 km east) and Westport (64 km west). Follow the signed turn for the Sky Road out of town; the circuit returns via the N59.
The road is narrow and winding with blind corners and steep drops. Stay in your lane, don’t overtake, and take it slowly; follow any signs about vehicle size, as large vehicles will struggle on the narrow stretches. Services are in Clifden, so sort everything out there first. Atlantic weather turns fast: bring a waterproof and layers even in summer, and expect strong crosswinds on the top, especially in autumn and winter.
Cycling and walking
Cyclists take on the Sky Road often; the climb is short but steep, and a headwind on the Upper Road makes it harder work than the distance suggests. Ride early for lighter traffic and calmer air, and carry lights, as mist rolls in quickly. The circuit is a public road with narrow stretches and no footpath on the cliff-top sections, so use mapped routes, observe signs and keep to safe pull-ins if you plan a separate walk. The Clifden Cycle Hub route maps show the mapped routes.
Nearby
- Connemara National Park – a short drive inland, with forest and mountain walks and a visitor centre.
- Kylemore Abbey – 19 km north of Clifden, a 19th-century castle, Benedictine abbey and walled gardens.
- Inishbofin Island – by ferry from Cleggan, about 20 minutes north of Clifden, for coastal trails and workshops.
Time the drive for late afternoon, when the light shifts across the bays, and allow extra time at the viewpoint on summer weekends.