Parking the car by the signposted clearing, you make your way towards a break in the impenetrable curtain of green that indicates the way to Torc Waterfall. A short walk past the gnarled roots and thick, twisted trunks of the yews and evergreens watching over you brings you closer to the source of a steady whisper in the background, gradually growing louder. With oak leaves crunching beneath your boots, you round the final bend to stand before a silvery spectacle draped across the slope of jet black rocks.

The crystal clear waters send a chill down your spine as the finely misted spray clings to the surface of your skin. All around, countless tourists tenuously make their way across the shiny black flat tops of boulders strewn across the plateau at the bottom of the waterfall for that perfectly framed picture. Ignoring the main thoroughfare, we suggest you slip off to the left where a set of steps built into the side of the Torc leads to the lip of the waterfall 20m above. From here, the tree tops and dazzling Muckross Lake are playthings arranged at your fingertips far below. In fall especially, the rustling leaves of oak turn a blazing red, dressing the waterfall in glorious shades of autumn. Undeniably, Torc Waterfall is a staircase to heaven gilded in silver instead of gold.