What the road actually is
The Military Road was cut between 1800 and 1809 so the British army could reach rebels who had melted into the mountains after 1798. It runs from Rathfarnham on the southern edge of Dublin to Aghavannagh, and for most of that distance it is a single lane of tarmac laid straight across open bog with nothing on either side but heather, granite and sheep with a poor sense of traffic.
It is not a scenic loop with laybys and interpretive panels. It is a working mountain road that happens to be one of the most atmospheric drives in Ireland.
The route, in the order we drive it
South to north is prettier at the end of the day. North to south is easier if you are starting from a Dublin hotel and heading for Glendalough. This is the northbound-out, southbound-back version we use most.
- Kilakee and the Featherbeds
- Fifteen minutes out of Rathfarnham and the city disappears. First viewpoint back over Dublin Bay. Stop here even if the cloud is down.
- Lough Bray Upper and Lower
- Two corrie lakes under a cliff, both a short walk from the road. The most photographed water in Wicklow after Glendalough, and much quieter.
- The Sally Gap crossroads
- The high point of the whole thing. A blank crossroads on open bog with turf cuttings on both sides. Nothing there, which is the point.
- Glenmacnass Waterfall
- A long white fall of water off the shoulder of the mountain with a car park at the top. Do not walk out onto the wet rock above it.
- Laragh and Glendalough
- The road drops into oak woods and the valley opens. Arrive here and the monastic city has completely different weight than if you had come up the N11.
How long it takes, honestly
The Sally Gap section is about an hour of driving without stops. Nobody does it without stops. Allow two and a half to three hours from Dublin to Glendalough with four pull-ins and a flask, and half a day if you intend to walk anything.
Speeds are low. You will average thirty to forty kilometres an hour, and less in cloud. There is no fuel and effectively no phone signal for long stretches. Fill the tank in Rathfarnham or Enniskerry, and download the map before you leave.
Passing places, sheep and weather
The road is a lane and a half wide in places. Irish drivers here reverse cheerfully to the last passing place and expect you to do the same, and the polite raised index finger off the steering wheel is the entire local greeting system. Use it.
Sheep are unfenced and have absolute right of way in their own minds. Lambs run toward the road, not away from it, so slow down when you see a ewe on the verge.
In winter the Sally Gap is the first road in Leinster to close. Snow, ice and freezing fog shut it for days at a time and it is not gritted as a priority. If there is any doubt in the forecast, take the R755 through Roundwood instead. It is a good road and you will still get your valley.
The stop most people miss
Between Lough Tay and the Sally Gap there is a bend where the whole of Luggala appears at once: a black lake with a white sand beach at one end, a Guinness family lodge below and a granite cliff above. There is space for four cars. It is the single best thirty seconds on the road and most people drive past it looking at the map.
The estate is private, the view from the road is not. Stand there for ten minutes in changing light and you will understand what everyone means about Wicklow.