Killarney- hillwalking

ascend

hi people,

First time posting in Outdoor Pursuits so excuse my amatuerness!

I was wondering if i can get some advice. Myself and the gf are planning a weekend away in Killarney in a few weeks. We were thinking of climbing Carantouhill, but since neither of us are very experience climbers we have decided against it.

I know there are lots of other places to hillclimb- but its just i'm really unfamiliar with the area.

I was wondering what other hillwalking alternatives can you recommend nearby that are not too dangerous? (in or around the carantouhill area) If you could provide some details on starting points that would be great.

Thanks!

This is not exactly what you want, I'm just cutting a pasting a post I put up on mountainviews.ie lately on the subject of family walks in Killarney, so these may be a bit tame.

Park the car in Muckross gardens, and there is a tarred road going all around Muckross Lake. It's a good 8km, but plenty to see, Muckross house itself, Colleen Bawn Rock, the old mines, the bridge where Muckross Lake meets Lough Leane, the Meeting of the Waters and there is even a tearoom along the way for refreshments. Only drawback is there is a stretch of a few hundred metres on the main road and traffic can be heavy enough depending on the time of day.

As for mountains, both Torc and Mangerton have trails all the way to the top. Torc is particularly user friendly, with sleepers across bogland and at a push could be done in runners, though road to the bottom of the mountain might have a few streams across that might flood. At the bottom of Torc there is a lovely waterfall (try Google images for all this stuff) and walks through the woods.

At the back of Torc there is also the Old Road to Kenmare, which is a lovely walk through the east side of the National Park, although road is crossed by a few streams and can be a bit boggy in places in wet weather. Very popular with walkers, but you should note that it's not a circuit. There's a branch of it that goes down to the Black Valley as well. A walk along the tarred road at the Gap of Dunloe is also lovely, Kate Kearney's Cottage at one end does bar food.

For something more adventurous, you could try climbing Purple Mountain from the Gap of Dunloe. Boots necessary for this one, but views from the top are stunning.

http://mountainviews.ie/

Apart from those easy ones, I'd invest in this book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Carrauntoohil-MacGillycuddys-Reeks-Irelands-Mountains/dp/1905172338

Has 15 or 20 walks through the Reeks, and gives difficulty ratings for them.

coleen

I would recommend all of the above purple can be a little difficult for some people but there is an easier one close by called strickeen you park your car in the car park of Kate Karney's cottage walk towards the gap for a few minutes and there is a path up to the right it is easier than purple but the views from the top similiar.

paulocon

Just back from Killarney myself. Was down on a family holiday so only had very limited time for walking. Planning Carrauntoohil myself but will not be until next year when I take a weekend away minus the children.

I went up the Paps which are accessible from a road off the main Killarney-Macroom road. One/two of Ireland's iconic mountains and definitely a magical place. Tourist office sells a book called 'Kerry Walks' which has the route in it along with some other walks - I can send on directions if you want (think Torc is also in there). Handy enough trek bar one part which is quite wet and slippy. I had planned on going up Torc but didn't get time in the end but I believe that this is quite accessible. Mullaghnish provides an easy way of getting some height by walking up the gated road that provides access to the 2 huge RTE masts at the summit. Took a walk up there with the kids one evening but the summit currently resembles a building site and access is barred to the very top.

paulocon

paulocon wrote: »

I went up the Paps which are accessible from a road off the main Killarney-Macroom road.

Not as popular. I guess they are well outside the Reeks/National Park/Lakes area, which is the main draw for hillwalkers.

ascend

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

I think the stroll around the lake might be a plan if the weather is not favourable.

Torc looks like a good call in regards the hillwalking. Does anyone know where is a good place to park the car if were gonna climb this? (If leaving Killarney Southbound on the N71). I'm guessing the views are pretty sweet up there.

Views are lovely alright, though keep an eye on cloud cover. Torc is a couple of hundred metres lower than a lot of other peaks around there, so less likely to be covered. Views are fantastic across to the Reeks, over the National Park and Lakes and across to Dingle Bay (not certain you can see the bay itself), and with Mangerton and Louigh Guitane on the other side. Bring coats though, it can be a little windy at the top.

There are two places to park. About half mile beyond the Muckross Park Hotel (not immediately beyond, that takes one up to the foot of Mangerton) there is a turn to the left and about a mile up that road there is a lot of parking at one entrance to the National Park. You could also stay on the main road to Kenmare for another mile or two and this brings you to another car park - get there early, can get full. The disadvantage of this is that the hike up Torc is a bit longer from here, maybe a further 20 minutes up and 10 down, and there are lots of steps to go up (the car park above eliminates this stretch), but the advantage is that you pass the lovely Torc Waterfall and it is a lovely woodland walk.

ascend

Cheers for that Conor. Got myself an OSI map today of the area so i know exactly where your talking about. I'll have a look at it later and see if there any other mountains of interest!

Lucky enough to live within walking distance of the National Park and Reeks, so know how fortunate I am. It really is an exceptional place. If you need any more info, PM me or stick a post on here.

Incidentally, if you decide to get more adventurous with the walking, the Harveys Superwalker is a very good map and covers both the Reeks and the Park...

http://www.mapsworldwide.com/sku_30121.htm

dogmatix

Having spent a week walking in and around Kerry last May I would have to agree with Conor74 that the Harveys map is the benchmark. Avoid the OSI 1/25000 map of the same area - it looks very pretty but is appalling bad for trails. I would recommend a number of walks around the the lakes and an out and return along the old kenmare road (you could include an ascent of Torc from the old road also).

I found the following book excellent for walks in the area (should be available from Easons and most of the outdoor stores) -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kerry-Walks-OBrien-Kevin-Corcoran/dp/0862789788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250156115&sr=8-1

ascend

Hi all, just back from Trip to Killarney...Weather was not the best last weekend, but we still managed to do the Walk around Muckross and the Lake, then on the sunday we parked down at the bottom of Torc, walked up the trail to the waterfall (which was pretty heavy seeing as it had been raining all morning). We admired the view for a shortwhile before heading on up.

The trails itself were not too demanding, a few little streams to hop, skip and jump across. The sleepers on the way up were a small bit slippy but other than that it really was an enjoyable climb. Visibility was poor enough looking up to the top of Torc, but as we climbed up further and further the wind tended to shift the overcast away allowing us a full few of the lakes once we reached the top. Really nice.

I agree with the OSI Map- I was using the 1:50000 i think, and I don't think it was very good for trail usage. It was grand for finding a general bearing of landmarks and roughly where you are looking but not detailed enough if you really got lost.

Thanks for everyone who inputted on this thread- really appreciated.

Next stop- Carrantouhill. Expect me to be posting on here again

Thanks for the feedback, nice to know you got out and about. Next time, maybe try the other side of the lakes, Purple Mountain is more accessible than Carauntoohil, no long hike in, can get up and down in half the time and the views are really great. Passed it myself on Sunday and top covered in cloud so you were prob right not to go there.

On the point of the Harvey's map I would definitely recommend it aswell.The difference in detail is incredible.And while we're on the subject of Killarney I was down there for a week earlier this month.The surprising thing is the mist never lifted from the mountains.I'd never seen anything like it.6 out of the 7 days the mountains were shrouded in mist,most of the time down to 500m or so.I only ended up doing Mangerton.The visibility at the top was down to 10 metres in each direction! Since there's no path to the summit itself I was lucky to find it.Turns out climbing a mountain in the mist is nowhere near as rewarding as climbing it on a fine day with views all around

bill_ashmount

Carantouhill can be covered in cloud/mist 80% of the time. Just buy yourself a cheap GPS and enter the route, you can't get lost. Walking in the cloud can be very relaxing, really shuts out the outside world.

bill_ashmount

Deleted User wrote: »

Lucky enough to live within walking distance of the National Park and Reeks, so know how fortunate I am.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr :mad:









This is my dream

Delta Kilo

Sorry if off topic, was in Killarney myself last weekend but didn't get a chance to do any hill walking:(

Just noticed about the maps.

What I do is go here, print off the section I want and laminate it in A4. Fits nicely into a backpack and is not affected by wind or rain!

bill_ashmount

I'd highly recommend this book:

Carrauntoohil & MacGillycuddy's Reeks
A Walking Guide to Ireland's Highest Mountains


Can be got at:

http://collinspress.ie/products.asp?id=17