Mourne Mountains 3 days

bamboozle

Group of us heading up for the long weekend, can anyone recommend good hikes? going to attempt Slieve Donard one of the days.

thanks

sliabh donard, while the biggest of the mournes isn't the most interesting, but still well worth doing.
I would go up from the car park at bloody bridge, follow the stream up to the wall, and follow the wall to the summit,
take the steps down the otherside, and follow the path to Newcastle, when you enter the forest, take the 2nd right, and follow the path back onto the road, a km will bring you back to the car park

Other days, Sliabh binnan from Carrick little car park is a must, really interesting rock formations on the top, also sliabh bearnagh from the Hare's gap is a good one, with the options of Maol mor and maol beag, and easy enough to find a trail back to the car park.

Make sure to buy a 1:25,000 map of the area,

Enjoy

Evil Phil

+1 for Binnian

fergalr

If you are going to do Donard , I would recommend not going up from bloody bridge, instead start at newcastle and walk in from the NNE along the path, to the saddle west of Donard - then follow the wall up the the summit. That's a much more pleasant route, with better paths.

maryo'dee

yes bloody bridge route is a bit grim especially if a dull day

mountaingoat

The Mournes are a really beautiful compact range of granite peaks.

I guess Donard is a must, being the highest. It is a bit of a slog. The walk up from Newcastle is probably best alright. You basically follow the Glen River, with all its waterfalls up through the forest, then you come out into open mountain, with a rocky path that leads you up onto the saddle of Donard and Commedagh. Then it is step aerobics up to the summit, following the magistic Mourne wall. The views are amazing. If you are lucky enough to have a really clear day, you should be able to make out Bray Head and Sugarloaf in distance, the Isle of Man, and possibly some peaks in the Lake District. Then when you get back to Newcastle there is a bar next to the carpark :-)

There are plenty of more interesting mountains. It really depends on your fitness. Other moderately challenging mounains include Binnian (for many people their favorite), Bearnagh, S.Lamagan-Cove-S.Beg On the 1:25000 map all the paths are clearly marked and most of these paths are in good shape.

Know your limits - if you want an easier (less climbing, shorter) walk, I'd recommend Doan from the carpark near Ott mountain. It is a beautiful little pointed peak in the middle of all the high mountains.

Hope you have a great weekend. Let us know how you get on.

bamboozle

thanks for all the suggestions, we've 3 days of hiking so we're hoping to fit in Donard, Binnan and one maybe smaller trek, all we need now is the weather!

bamboozle

thanks for all the tips, we did Donard (via newcastle) and Binnian and the moutain next to it. by the time we got to the top of Donard it was snowing but it was well worth it.
the Mourne's are a great range to climb, my only concern is that some of the routes are not clearly marked.

Alun

bamboozle wrote: »

the Mourne's are a great range to climb, my only concern is that some of the routes are not clearly marked.

That's odd, I'd always found the footpaths in that area to be pretty easy to follow, although not always waymarked, I'll grant you. At least up there there are actually footpaths marked on the official Ordnance Survey maps, unlike here. Also the walls are a great aid to navigation in the Mournes, and you're never very far away from one.

Gu3rr1lla

Did you guys camp up there?

bamboozle

nope, B&B, far too cold to be camping!