The task of upgrading and building paths and waymarking the route has been carried out to a large extent by volunteers working under the direction of the Dublin Mountains Partnership.

Travelling from east to west, the route of the Dublin Mountains Way starts on the Main Street of Shankill and passes through Rathmichael, Carrickgollogan, Barnaslingan, Glencullen, Ballyedmonduff, Three Rock, Two Rock, Tibradden Mountain, Cruagh Wood, Featherbed Forest, Glenasmole and Kiltipper before ending at Seán Walsh Memorial Park in Tallaght.

It also visits several places of scientific interest such as The Scalp, an important example of a glacial lake overflow, and the Glenasmole Valley, a Special Area of Conservation.

Its members include representatives from Coillte, the State-owned forestry company; South Dublin County Council; Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council; the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Dublin Mountains Initiative, an umbrella group of recreational users of the mountains.

[7] The DMP was set up as a result of pressure from the Dublin Mountains Initiative arising from clear felling of forests in the area.

[7] A sleepered bog bridge was constructed at the summit to protect the surrounding heathland and a stone staircase and water management features were added to other parts of the trail.

[3] The first section of the Way – from Tibradden to Cruagh Wood – was officially opened on 19 June 2009 by Éamon Ó Cuív, TD, Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

[11] The section linking Cruagh Wood and Massy's Estate was built by volunteers from the trail conservation group Mountain Meitheal with funding from the Irish Ramblers Club.

[14][15] The full route was officially opened on 31 October 2010 by the Dublin Mountains Partnership at a ceremony in Ticknock forest.

[3] Following an agreement with a local landowner, some 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) of trail has been taken off-road by facilitating access to Three Rock Mountain via private forestry at Ballyedmonduff.

[3] The trail follows a series of lanes behind the pub, through the Tillystown area of Shankill, crossing the M11 motorway via a pedestrian bridge, following the line of an old mass path to Rathmichael.

[25] The ruin of the flue chimney of the former Ballycorus Leadmines, with its distinctive external spiral staircase becomes visible as the trail climbs the hillside.

The route passes close to but does not ascend the summit of Carrickgollogan Hill (276 m or 906 ft),[1] which can be reached by a short detour along the waymarked Lead Mines Way.

Along the way, it passes the partially completed Kilternan Golf and Country Club, built around a nineteenth-century house called Springfield which was once the home of the poet and mathematician George Darley.

[32] Reaching Kilternan village, the route turns onto the R116 road at the Church of Our Lady of the Wayside, a distinctive wooden structure built in 1929.

[38][39] The trail ascends through the spruce, larch and pine woods of Ticknock forest[40] to reach the summit of Three Rock (449 m or 1,473 ft).

[52] As the trail exits Cruagh Wood it passes a stone memorial to the botanist H. C. Hart who, in 1886, made, and won, a bet that he could walk from Terenure in Dublin to the summit of Lugnaquilla in Wicklow in 24 hours.

[53] Leaving Cruagh Wood, walkers have the choice of either following a circular spur route via Massy's Estate and the Hell Fire Club or to continue direct to Glenasmole via the Featherbed Forest.

[54] The valley is a Special Area of Conservation containing three important habitats: petrifying springs, orchid-rich grassland and Molina meadow.

[61] From the waterworks, the trail follows the Dodder through Kiltipper Park and then, after skirting past the housing estates at Ellensborough and Marlfield, enters Sean Walsh Park in Tallaght where the Way finishes at a mapboard with a stone marking the opening of the Tallaght section of the Way by Councillor Eamon Maloney, Mayor of South Dublin County, on 31 October 2010.

[62] Shankill is served by frequent Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland services[63] and by the DART rail line.

[64] Tallaght is also served by frequent Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland services[65] as well as the Luas light rail red line.