ModerateCoastal · Dingle · recorded

Sás Creek
Loop.

A recorded coastal circuit from Brandon Point around the great natural amphitheatre of Sás Creek, crossing rough hillside above steep Atlantic cliffs.

Also known as Sauce Creek.

DISTANCE

7.98km

ASCENT

409m

HIGH POINT

318m

Rob’s recorded time 3 hr 28 · exposed coastal ground · 516 recorded track points GRADE GUIDE ↗

Reading the map…

INTERACTIVE TERRAIN · ACTUAL GPX TRACKACTUAL GPX TRACK

A recorded time is not a planning estimate. Build your own from pace, ascent, ground, weather and daylight.

GPX EMERGENCY

ONE · BEFORE YOU COMMIT

Is this your day?

The grade, the hazards, the forecast and the ground the route actually crosses. Everything you need to decide whether to go at all.

WEATHER AT A GLANCE

Forecast for around 300 m

Approx. 300 m

NOWReading the forecast

WINDReading the forecast

TODAY’S PEAK RAIN CHANCEReading the forecast

Forecast. This is a modelled estimate for this route’s high ground; conditions can differ sharply across the mountain. Detailed planning guidance follows. Derived from Open-Meteo forecast data ↗.

RECORDED ELEVATION

32 m to 318 m.

The loop repeatedly rises and falls across the coastal slopes, reaching approximately 318 m above Sás Creek before returning to Brandon Point.

Reading the forecast

409 m ascent · 415 m descent

THE LINE

Around the trap-shaped creek.

Sás is a steep-sided inlet beneath the coastal slopes west of Brandon Point. The name is understood as a trap or a noose, which fits a cove closed in by high ground. The hill mapping sets Sauce Creek beside it rather than translating it, and Sauce reads like the sound of Sás written down by someone without the Irish, though nothing sourced here can tell you that for certain. This loop looks into the place from above, crossing the upper stream and climbing the opposite side.

The inlet names its own ground

The mapping works this ground closely, and almost all of it is held in the one genitive. The mouth is Béal a’ tSáis, the back of the strand is Tóin a’ tSáis, the eastern wall is Faill a’ tSáis, and the way down is Bóthair a tSáis. Around them sit Cúl Tráigh, Colú Dubh, Log Breac, Gleann na Stóice, Lorga and Faill Dubh, and the cliffs carry bare eisc labels wherever a gully cuts down. The place did not borrow a name from the townland behind it: it gave one to everything around itself.

Nóra Ní Laoithe’s gully

One of those gullies is named for a person. Eisc Nóra Ní Laoithe cuts the north side near the mouth, and nothing sourced here can tell you who she was or what happened in it. It is the same word as Eisc na bhFiach above the Hag’s Glen, and the same kind of gap: ground that has kept a woman’s full name, and no record within reach that can say why.

The families below

Tony Doherty’s 2008 account in the Irish Times describes a bay roughly 750 metres across, with cliffs rising about 300 metres behind it. He records three families farming the ground below during the nineteenth century, reaching their homes by the steep cliff route. The same article recounts a midwife’s fatal fall and connects it with the departure of the last household. That gives the place a human scale, and the sequence is best read as the published account of local history rather than as a dated record.

The mapping marks a building on the back slope above the strand and calls it Tigh a’ tSáis, the house of the Sás. Whether that is one of the three, a later building, or a ruin that outlived them, nothing sourced here can tell you.

01Brandon Point startThe recording begins at approximately 88 m and gains height quickly above the coast.
02Coastal traverseA rough hillside line crosses above steep Atlantic cliffs with Sás Creek opening ahead.
03Sás CreekThe route rounds the inlet, drops towards the upper stream and crosses before climbing the opposite side.
04High pointThe circuit reaches approximately 318 m on exposed coastal ground.
05Inland returnRough grass and old tracks lead east to close the loop near Brandon Point.

The dimensions, nineteenth-century households and midwife account come from Tony Doherty, Up Sauce Creek, Irish Times (1 November 2008) ↗. The historical cliff access described in that article is separate from this recorded loop above the cove. Sás and Sauce Creek, the tSáis names around the rim, Eisc Nóra Ní Laoithe and Tigh a’ tSáis are the names carried by EastWest Mapping’s hill mapping ↗ of the peninsula. Who Nóra Ní Laoithe was, and whether Tigh a’ tSáis is one of the households the article describes, are open: neither the mapping nor anything read for this page answers them.

PLANNING FORECAST · AROUND 300 M

Reading the forecast

WIND NOWReading the forecast

—cloud

—humidity

—km/h peak gust

Strongest wind today—

Peak gust—

RECENT RAINFALL · LIKELY GROUND

Reading the forecast

RAIN, GUST & VISIBILITY WINDOW

Reading the forecast

BEST HIKING WINDOW

Reading the forecast

DAYLIGHT PLAN

Reading the forecast

MET ÉIREANN · KERRY

Reading the forecast

NEXT SIX HOURS · swipe

Reading the forecast

HAZARDS & OPTIONSKnow the commitment.

The route passes above very steep, unguarded coastal cliffs. Keep a wide margin from every edge, especially in wind, cloud or wet ground.

The crossing of Sás Creek and nearby rock can become slippery or unsafe after heavy rain. Do not force a swollen stream.

Steep grass, loose stone, bracken, boggy patches and hidden holes make sections slow and awkward.

The exposed coastal slopes have little shelter and can be difficult to navigate when cloud lowers.

Keep dogs under close control around livestock and cliff edges, and use a lead wherever required.

If the stream is high or the exposed traverse feels unsafe, reverse the known line before committing to the far side of the creek. Do not descend towards the cove or improvise a shortcut near the cliffs.

FROM THE MOUNTAIN

Rob’s photographs.

9 photographsSwipe and tap to enlarge from the recorded day · select to enlarge

Sás Creek and its steep green coastal cliffs curving beneath the Brandon Mountains — 01Sás Creek beneath the Brandon Mountains

A narrow hillside trail traversing high above Atlantic cliffs near Sás Creek — 02The traverse above Sás Creek

A coastal stream dropping through dark rock on the steep green cliffs towards the Atlantic — 03Water falling towards the sea

A hillwalker in an orange jacket crossing wet rock beside a coastal cascade above the sea cliffs — 04Along the cliffs above the sea

The steep-sided inlet of Sás Creek opening into the blue Atlantic — 05Sás Creek from above

A broad view across the green cliffs, cove and breaking Atlantic swell — 06The cove and open sea

Turquoise Atlantic water and white swell beneath the sheer coastal cliffs — 07Atlantic water below the cliffs

A walker resting on heather above the high cliffs and calm Atlantic water — 08A pause above Sás Creek

A coastal cascade running through green rocky hillside towards the Atlantic cliffs — 09Cascade above the sea cliffs

TWO · YOU’VE DECIDED

Getting there.

Where it starts, the recorded file, and the checks worth making before you leave the house.

PLAN THE GROUND

ROUTE NOTES REVIEWED 12 AUGUST 2026

Start well.

RECORDED STARTBrandon Point

Select coordinates to copy

The recording starts near Brandon Point. Parking is limited, so leave gates, lanes and turning space clear. This is a mixture of local tracks and open hillside rather than a consistently surfaced or waymarked trail. Confirm current access, follow local signs and respect livestock and landowners.

ROUTE FILE

Take the recorded route with you.

516 recorded track points, exactly as walked. Load it into your watch, phone or offline mapping before you leave signal.

Distance, elevation, track geometry and recorded time come from the supplied GPX and GeoJSON. The recording was completed on 9 June 2024. Access, stream levels and local conditions must be checked independently.

Download original GPXsas-creek-loop.gpx · as recorded GeoJSON KML

Onto a watch: import the GPX into Garmin Connect, Komoot or Strava and send it to the device from there. On a phone, the Garmin Explore and OS Maps apps take the file straight from the share sheet.

BEFORE YOU GO

Give the cliffs a wide margin.

Moderate distance does not make exposed coastal ground forgiving.

Sás Creek combines unguarded cliffs, steep grass, a stream crossing and open navigation. A small change in wind, rain or visibility can make the same line substantially more serious.

Your quick checksOptional and saved only in this browser.

0/5 checked

These checks support your planning; they do not confirm that the route is safe.

01Check wind and rainAvoid the cliff-top ground in strong wind, low cloud or after sustained heavy rain.
02Stay back from edgesKeep a generous margin even where a trodden line appears close to the cliff.
03Judge the streamTurn back rather than force the crossing when water is high or rock is slippery.
04Navigate independentlyCarry suitable mapping and keep the return line clear before visibility deteriorates.