Did this looped walk on a beautiful, scorching September day. I started the walk at the oddly named Stump of the Castle car park, which had space for 4/5 cars. (The name relates to the immediate townland round about, but the remnants of the castle are not to be seen.) You could also access the loop from the northern end via two separate entrances to the Vale of Clara Nature Reserve, or via the Ballygannon Wood car park to the SW, which gives access to the Samuel Hayes Suspension Bridge.From my starting point, follow the Avonmore Way for about 1.2km before leaving the river and taking the fork to the right up a gently rising slope. Follow this north for about 5km, all of it through mature forestry underlain with ferns, which were showing the first signs of autumn. During this section I gained about 180m in elevation.The trail then swung sharply west and took me to one of the northern entrance to the Vale of Clara and onto the road for about 1.5km, before re-joining the forest at another Vale entrance to the NW.From this point it was mostly downhill and also the more interesting part of the walk as it skirts the Avonmore River for some 4km, and if you walk about 10m from the trail there are some great river views to be had.I took a brief detour near the end to see the fine Samuel Hayes suspension bridge, named after the politician and original founder of Avondale House (later the residence of his relation, C.S. Parnell.)(I discovered later that day that the cabinet was having a meeting just a stone’s throw away in Avondale - I would have popped round had I known!) Saw several deer along the way and a few fish prancing about in the water. The beautiful weather, silence of the forest and gentle flow of the river made for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon’s walking.