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Ballydowane and Stradbally: The Copper Coast's Sea Stacks

Waterford, Ireland

easy
nature

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Ballydowane Wanderer

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225

XP

2 days

Ballydowane and Stradbally: The Copper Coast's Sea Stacks

easy
nature

225 XP

The Copper Coast Geopark is better known for its mines, but this stretch is about what the sea is doing to the rock rather than what men took out of it. The cliffs at Ballydowane expose tilted beds of red sandstone and conglomerate you can read straight off the face, and the sea has cut the softer material away into free-standing stacks on the beach. Stradbally Cove lies 8.5km west of Bunmahon, and the coastal path lets you beach-hop between Stradbally, Ballydowane and Boatstrand in a day.

Required Activities

1

of 4

Walk Stradbally Cove, 8.5km west of Bunmahon on the Copper Coast UNESCO Global Geopark

2

of 4

Find the tilted beds exposed in the cliffs at Ballydowane Cove, between Bunmahon and Stradbally, and work out which way up the beds were laid down

3

of 4

Photograph Ballydowane's sea stacks, cut free from the cliff line by the Atlantic working along the softer rock

4

of 4

Take in Stradbally, Ballydowane and Boatstrand — each a short drive apart off the R675, with walks down to the sand at each

  • Walk Stradbally Cove, 8.5km west of Bunmahon on the Copper Coast UNESCO Global Geopark

  • Find the tilted beds exposed in the cliffs at Ballydowane Cove, between Bunmahon and Stradbally, and work out which way up the beds were laid down

  • Photograph Ballydowane's sea stacks, cut free from the cliff line by the Atlantic working along the softer rock

  • Take in Stradbally, Ballydowane and Boatstrand — each a short drive apart off the R675, with walks down to the sand at each

Before you go

Cliff edges here are unfenced and the ground can be undercut. Stay well back from the edge, keep dogs on leads and children in hand, and do not go near it in high wind.

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About Waterford

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Challenge Location

XP Breakdown

Challenge XP

225 XP


Potential total

225 XP

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