night in a forest

wolf moon

hi!

myself and my better half are looking for some quality time and decided to pop out during one of the oncoming weekends.
the idea is to get a small tent and set up all the gear somewhere in wicklow mountains, in a complete wilderness. no facilities needed, we have food, water, cooker, knife, and all that's needed. however i have 2 questions that i am hoping you could answer:

1. is it legal to just walk into ANY wild forest/climb on a hill/etc., set a tent and spend a night there or does it rather have to be a dedicated place we have to pay for?

2. what would you recommend to do with the car we use to get there? is it safe/legal to leave it overnight parked /safely/ by the road or in a small forest avenue near the place we will be camping?

Donny5

The answer to 1 is that you can camp in most Coillte forests, but you have to be out of site and well away from tracks and roads. Most of the touristy spots such as Glendalough are off-limits for camping, so look for somewhere less busy.

2 is an interesting one. There's lots of scumbags and crime in Wicklow; joyriding, theft from cars and the like, mostly in the summer months and mostly at night. I'd say you'd be alright leaving a car in most forest car parks, but you might be unlucky. In general, the farther South you go, the less you have to worry.

Whitehawk

to pt number 2. as pt 1 is well covered above,
ya leaving you car out on one of them tracks is not such a good idia ya you could be fine but all it takes is a few lads up there and well your car is F.
something i do is find the nerest farm etc and drive up and say where im going and is it ok to leave my car with them, ive never had someone say no and generaly its only max a 30 or so mins of a extra walk, 4pice of mind i think 30 mins is nothing.

wolf moon

many thanks!

(shame on me... there are so many decent threads about wild camping here..)

Whitehawk

no worrys best of luck with the camping! dont forget the beans and tent poles!

wolf moon

Whitehawk wrote: »

no worrys best of luck with the camping! dont forget the beans and tent poles!

ah, the office work is killing me, i'd give a lot just to stay in my tent, look at the horizon, listen to rain and wind, smell the grass.. i've wasted too much time.

another story is, that i don't know anyone who's up for this sort of stuff, so that we could do it on a more regular basis in different sites. but sure, the oh is good company for start, to remind me my teen years.

HellFireClub

Donny5 wrote: »

The answer to 1 is that you can camp in most Coillte forests, but you have to be out of site and well away from tracks and roads. Most of the touristy spots such as Glendalough are off-limits for camping, so look for somewhere less busy.

2 is an interesting one. There's lots of scumbags and crime in Wicklow; joyriding, theft from cars and the like, mostly in the summer months and mostly at night. I'd say you'd be alright leaving a car in most forest car parks, but you might be unlucky. In general, the farther South you go, the less you have to worry.

Great idea OP, I do a lot of walking up in the Dublin Mountains, "in theory" you need a permit to camp in a Coillte public park:

http://www.dublinmountains.ie/faqs/frequently_asked_questions/?no_cache=1

This is not the case in practice though, many people camp up in the Dublin mountains and have been doing so for centuries. It is only recently that public sector paper pushers have decided that camping in the Dublin Mountains now represents a safety issue.

The only thing I will advise you of though is to leave the car at home if you can, places like the HellFire Club car park are notorious for cars being broken into, I'd even be wary there at times parking my car up there when going for a walk, and I've seen several people come back from a walk to find their car window broken by s*umbags looking for a handbag with cash in it...

I wouldn't be too worried about running into a drinking party or the likes of that, teenagers who do this don't really go off road I find, I've been walking and camping up in these parts for years and I've never once run into any kind of trouble or hassle up there in terms of gangs drinking, etc.

On the transport end of things, I'd recommend getting the Luas out to Tallaght early in the day and getting a taxi then maybe to The Kilakee House, (just a 5-10 minute car trip), this is situated at the Hell Fire Club Car Park, and then head off on a bit of a hike and find some nice spot to settle down for the night. The key to finding a nice spot is heading off the walkways/tracks that are there, away from the regular walkers and a bit more into the wilderness.

Also, if you are setting up a fire, be careful of the kind of rocks you use! I lit a fire up there a few years ago and whatever kind of this one particular rock that is up on that mountain, (I think it was Quartz), it exploded and almost took the head off me! I used limestone rocks the last time and had no issues!

HellFireClub

wolf moon wrote: »

ah, the office work is killing me, i'd give a lot just to stay in my tent, look at the horizon, listen to rain and wind, smell the grass.. i've wasted too much time.

another story is, that i don't know anyone who's up for this sort of stuff, so that we could do it on a more regular basis in different sites. but sure, the oh is good company for start, to remind me my teen years.

I go camping up the Dublin Mountains once or twice every summer on my own and my mates think I'm mad for doing it! You can't beat a bit of "me" time I think though, to mull over things, gather your thoughts in the fresh country air with a bit of steak on an open fire and a glass of red wine with the whole city lit up beneath you, 'tis food for the soul I think!

Donny5

HellFireClub wrote: »

Great idea OP, I do a lot of walking up in the Dublin Mountains, "in theory" you need a permit to camp in a Coillte public park:

I don't know where you're getting that from, HellFireClub. You don't need a permit to camp in Coillte forests, unless you're in a large group or want to light a fire. Second, you can't get a permit for the Dublin mountains seeing as they don't allow camping there at all, or in the Glendalough valley. You are right that everyone ignores those rules completely and no-one cares (except for the Glendalough one - the rangers there will move you on in you set up camp).

HellFireClub

Donny5 wrote: »

I don't know where you're getting that from, HellFireClub. You don't need a permit to camp in Coillte forests, unless you're in a large group or want to light a fire. Second, you can't get a permit for the Dublin mountains seeing as they don't allow camping there at all, or in the Glendalough valley. You are right that everyone ignores those rules completely and no-one cares (except for the Glendalough one - the rangers there will move you on in you set up camp).

Check out the link I posted there innmy first post, it says you need a permit for some places and it is prohibited in others, I might have got it a bit muddled in how I went about explaining it, apologies for that.

There are two sides to the argument I think, part of me thinks that it is rediculous that some civil servant can make up a very recent rule that says you cannot camp on a mountain when people have been doing so for as long as the mountain was there. Then there is the other side of it where you are walking through a forest and it's clear enough that 20 people had been drinking there the previous nite, the place destroyed with beer cans and bottles and all sorts of stuff left behind.

Donny5

HellFireClub wrote: »

Check out the link I posted there innmy first post, it says you need a permit for some places and it is prohibited in others, I might have got it a bit muddled in how I went about explaining it, apologies for that.

There are two sides to the argument I think, part of me thinks that it is rediculous that some civil servant can make up a very recent rule that says you cannot camp on a mountain when people have been doing so for as long as the mountain was there. Then there is the other side of it where you are walking through a forest and it's clear enough that 20 people had been drinking there the previous nite, the place destroyed with beer cans and bottles and all sorts of stuff left behind.

Have a look again. It just says no camping unless you're a scout. It's true that no-one gives a **** about enforcement, though. There's one forest in Wicklow which seems to have a rave every weekend in the summer and no-one cares.

the_syco

HellFireClub wrote: »

Also, if you are setting up a fire, be careful of the kind of rocks you use! I lit a fire up there a few years ago and whatever kind of this one particular rock that is up on that mountain, (I think it was Quartz), it exploded and almost took the head off me! I used limestone rocks the last time and had no issues!

This often happens with cold/wet rocks. This often happens when people get rocks from a nearby river as they're "clean", but once there is a sudden change from cold to hot, they'll go bang.

=-=

Came across this: http://www.wicklowmountainsnationalpark.ie/WildCamping.html

HellFireClub

the_syco wrote: »

This often happens with cold/wet rocks. This often happens when people get rocks from a nearby river as they're "clean", but once there is a sudden change from cold to hot, they'll go bang.

=-=

Came across this: http://www.wicklowmountainsnationalpark.ie/WildCamping.html

This happened up a few miles from the HellFire Club, in a clearing in a forest a mile or so from the ruin, not a river in sight! And it wasn't just one rock it was a few, it was like a gun had gone off beside me! When they cooled down I had a good look at them and they did seem to be quartz or maybe granite which is the natural rock up that way. I've tried Limestone since and not a bother and also keep them back a bit from the main fire to stop them getting red hot...

EDIT: I just read that link you provided, it's the worst example of public service bullsh*t and beaurocracy I think that at this time, you are "technically" not allowed to light a campfire anywhere in the Dublin mountains. This "for the file" seige mentality that the local authortities and relevant government quango's have against people who in some cases may not be able to afford to do anything else for a weekend other than a bit of camping, I think is an absolute disgrace.

Same with the car parks, they have been locking the HellFire Club car park for years now, forcing parents with kids to park out on a narrow road, causing an obvious road traffic risk to parents taking kids out of cars, putting them into buggies, etc. I questioned them on this once and they said they had to close it because of anti-social behaviour. So rather than deal with the issue by way of Gardai and enforcement, the problem which at the time was a few twats in modified cars doing donuts in the car park, they close the car park to all the law abiding citizens.

They are at the same crap with genuine campers and hillwalkers. They ban all campfires in the mountains and fail to deal with the actual issue which is a small cohort of knacker drinkers who have a p*ss up in a forest once or twice a year and can't clean up after themselves...

wolf moon

HellFireClub wrote: »

I go camping up the Dublin Mountains once or twice every summer on my own and my mates think I'm mad for doing it! You can't beat a bit of "me" time I think though, to mull over things, gather your thoughts in the fresh country air with a bit of steak on an open fire and a glass of red wine with the whole city lit up beneath you, 'tis food for the soul I think!

totally right. i will be up for that at some later stage i guess.
i'm very new to camping, but can't stand the city, office, work anymore, i need a break, something else than sunny-fookin-spain with all the family wrecking my head and myriads of brits all over the place. i guess it's the age

i was looking at some trails in wicklow, 3 days max so that i could walk during the day and set up small camp for the night. but i'm not gonna risk it just yet.

the_syco

wolf moon wrote: »

i'm very new to camping

I'll just one or two things. Go camping somewhere remote for one night. Bring a pen, paper, and a flashlight, and write down the things you forget. Also, get a lightweight camping bed, or an air-mattress - it makes a good sleep a lot easier. Finally, try to do it on a night that has a clear sky, and a full moon. Colder, but you'll be able to see your hands when the sun goes down

HellFireClub

Another thing that takes a bit of the hardship out of the catering end of things OP is it as far as is possible, prepare as much as you can before you leave the house. Just for example, if you are a steak lover like myself, dice the steak at home and make up your gravy before you leave, ready to pour onto the pan. A little bit of preparation saves you a lot of shyte and messing. The first time I did this, I was amazed how hard it was to cut a steak without having a table to sit at! Based on what I learnt last summer, this time around this year I'm going to do a round roast on a spit/bar across a fire to try it out and cut it off from the outside as it gets properly cooked.

If you were to try to prepare stuff for a bite to eat up in the mountains as you would prepare it at home, you'd end up with leaves and bits of twigs in your dinner, etc, so I think get as much stuff prepared as you can ready to throw straight onto a pan or into a pot.

Also, timing is everything, if you can start out early in the morning, get a nice spot picked out with a great view and your tent down with plenty of sun light left, you can get a fire ready and be getting started with a nice bit of open fire cooking while you have some sunlight left or as the sun is going down and having a few drops of booze...

HellFireClub

wolf moon wrote: »

totally right. i will be up for that at some later stage i guess.
i'm very new to camping, but can't stand the city, office, work anymore, i need a break, something else than sunny-fookin-spain with all the family wrecking my head and myriads of brits all over the place. i guess it's the age

i was looking at some trails in wicklow, 3 days max so that i could walk during the day and set up small camp for the night. but i'm not gonna risk it just yet.

Just wondering does anyone else share this habit of heading off on your own for a night into the mountains/forest and having a bit of "me" time?!?

My mates look at me as if I have ten heads when I do this in the summer, personally I find it's the most enjoyable and relaxing time of the summer for me! Don't get me wrong, I love going out and socialising, no better buachal as the man says, but I just find it great to be able to balance it out a few times a year by doing this on my own as well...

Donny5

HellFireClub wrote: »

Just wondering does anyone else share this habit of heading off on your own for a night into the mountains/forest and having a bit of "me" time?!?

My mates look at me as if I have ten heads when I do this in the summer, personally I find it's the most enjoyable and relaxing time of the summer for me! Don't get me wrong, I love going out and socialising, no better buachal as the man says, but I just find it great to be able to balance it out a few times a year by doing this on my own as well...

Yes, I do it a fair amount and not just in the summer. Nothing better than Jack Daniels in the snow.

wolf moon

so i am thinking of setting a small 1 maybe 2 night camp and maybe have a bit of walking as well. no fire. i plan to get off the car somewhere on r115, then walk through the forest/grass/bushes on the right (or left, been there nad look good too) and settle around here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=53.093032,-6.338747&spn=0.004826,0.016512&t=h&z=17

what do you guys think?

Donny5

wolf moon wrote: »

so i am thinking of setting a small 1 maybe 2 night camp and maybe have a bit of walking as well. no fire. i plan to get off the car somewhere on r115, then walk through the forest/grass/bushes on the right (or left, been there nad look good too) and settle around here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=53.093032,-6.338747&spn=0.004826,0.016512&t=h&z=17

what do you guys think?

That's a short trot down to the shores of Lough Dan, which is a lovely place to camp, if sometimes a little windy. The only thing I would say is that the Gap road and the parking spots along it are common riding spots and are subject to a fair, but not excessive, amount of break-ins and joyriding. Basically, camp out of sight and don't leave anything tempting in the car.

wolf moon

after reading all them stories about joyriders, etc i think that my best bet is to ask one of the mates to give me a lift and pick me up in lets say 27 hours.

i generally like those areas, i've been there with my missus and my son a number of times, never thought of camping there though.

i have a plan to take my son with me once i pass the "camping test" myself would be nice to disconnect him from the tv and ps3 for a day or two.

and thanks for the input lads, being a newbie i very much appreciate your advice and opinions.

Donny5

To be honest, in general, your car will be okay. It's more likely to be broken into than torched. On the other hand, a lift home could be very welcome after a day or two out.

HellFireClub

I'd say OP if there is any way you can do this without leaving the car exposed, that's what I'd recommend. From Kilakee down as far south to the Sally Gap is a regular cruising spot for muppets and skangers, especially at night. I personally wouldn't dream of leaving a car anywhere up on the Dublin/Wicklow Mountains for a night because even though I think you are safe enough off road (and the further off road you are, the less likely you are to bump into any drinking groups, etc), but the Military Road in particular is busier at night I'd say than it is during daytime. A few years back it was a regular occurance to see a car burnt out up there every single weekend.

If you live in Dublin though, I wouldn't go that far south as you are proposing... Did you have a look at the 3 Rock Mountain or Montpelier Hill (HellFire Club mountain/hill)??? I'd recommend these as a first attempt because the 3 Rock Mountain is right beside Ballinteer which is well serviced by bus and the Hell Fire Club is a 30-40 minute walk from Firhouse... Also great views of Dublin City lit up at night...

wolf moon

well, i don't know myself.. in a few threads here some people were saying "the further south the better/safer/etc.". as the area you mentioned is so close to dublin (tallaght?), i would imagine it to be a handy spot for every dutch gold-drinker (not that i have anything against this precious nectar ) who can afford '91 honda civic..
i might be completely wrong though - it's just the reason i was trying to pick the most remote spots i know of. i want to make sure that it's gonna be quiet time.

Donny5

wolf moon wrote: »

well, i don't know myself.. in a few threads here some people were saying "the further south the better/safer/etc.". as the area you mentioned is so close to dublin (tallaght?), i would imagine it to be a handy spot for every dutch gold-drinker (not that i have anything against this precious nectar ) who can afford '91 honda civic..
i might be completely wrong though - it's just the reason i was trying to pick the most remote spots i know of. i want to make sure that it's gonna be quiet time.

The farther South the better is right. Hellfire and rest of the Dublin mountains are way too close. Sure you can jog up them all from Dublin. On top of that, there tends to be plenty of dodgy stuff particularly at the Hellfire Club and, for some reason, the lead mines.

wolf moon

Donny5 wrote: »

plenty of dodgy stuff particularly at the Hellfire Club and, for some reason, the lead mines.

what dodgy stuff? "haunted" places like?

HellFireClub

wolf moon wrote: »

what dodgy stuff? "haunted" places like?

I was walking up to the HellFire Club one morning a few years ago and I had brought 2 friends up for a walk who were not Irish. They went into the building and then went upstairs, (I'd be walking up there a fair bit and wouldn't be bothered a lot of the time going into the ruin itself), but anyway they called me up and wanted to know what was going on upstairs, (they didn't know any of the history/folklore of the place), but anyway in the room on the right after you get to the top of the stairs, there were about a dozen jamjars containing candles in them, (the flat circular kind you see in the church), all laid out at the pointed edges of a pentagram that had been set out on the ground with a black rope and chalk. There was a crucifix that looked like it had been made out of wood that you would get in B & Q and was broken in two on the ground as if it had been snapped over someone's knee and there were bits of clothes line rope on the ground that had been cut but had loads of knots in it, as if it had been used to tie someone or something up...

I took pics at the time but never took them off my phone and I don't know what happened the phone but I don't have the pics now but it was a bit of a bizarre and a surreal scene.

I had been aware of rumours of black masses and ritual stuff pertaining to satanism for years as a young lad when I used to hike up here with the scouts, all associated with this building, but this was the only time I had ever seen any real evidence of something bizarre going on up there...

HellFireClub

Donny5 wrote: »

The farther South the better is right. Hellfire and rest of the Dublin mountains are way too close. Sure you can jog up them all from Dublin. On top of that, there tends to be plenty of dodgy stuff particularly at the Hellfire Club and, for some reason, the lead mines.

Yeah dead right, the further south the better but the advice I was giving about staying on the Dublin side of the border was just based on the OP leaving the car out of the whole thing and using public transport to get to Ballinteer/Taylors 3 Rock Pub, (for the 3 Rock option), or to Tallaght by Luas or bus for the HellFire Club option...

Also OP, this is probably obvious but whatever option you do decide to run with, I wouldn't mention it too specifically in terms of location or time of staying on thread for safety reasons...

wolf moon

i thought that the thread itself is safe and no bad people read it
thanks for the advices, i've never been to hellfire club before but i think it's worth seeing, even during the day.

well we see how it all goes. i'm anxious to try but i've plans for the next 2 weekends so maybe the one after.

last (for the moment) question: what do you guys think of setting up a very small, 1 person tent - not in the forest though, but in the grass on one of the hills (lets say in the area i attached in the link above).. far enough not to be seen or heard from the roads, not tall, military style green/brown colour - suitable pretty much just to lie down and rest. i have a gas burner so no "fire" (as in terms of barbecue, etc) needed.

the_syco

wolf moon wrote: »

and pick me up in lets say 27 hours.

One of the things that I found handy whilst camping in Hellfest last year, was a small device that could charge my phone. I used a small battery device (that I got in Maplins) that allowed me to top up the battery of my phone. I'd recommend getting the PowerChimp though, for two reasons. One: heard it's better, and two because you'll be transferring the power from two batteries instead of one, so more will go into your phone. These little phone chargers are great. Oh, and f**k the solar powered ones unless you a) are in a sunny country, and b) can leave the phone out whilst charging. The battery powered charger allowed me to put it under my pillow and let the phone charge whilst I was asleep.

wolf moon wrote: »

but in the grass on one of the hills (lets say in the area i attached in the link above).. far enough not to be seen or heard from the roads, not tall, military style green/brown colour - suitable pretty much just to lie down and rest. i have a gas burner so no "fire" (as in terms of barbecue, etc) needed.

Make sure you have a ground mat, or that the tent included a ground mat. Also, if you do it on the slant, that the tent opening is to the side (ie: not facing the top or bottom of the hill). This is to ensure that should it rain, your tent doesn't get flooded. Oh, and look at which way the wind will be blowing. Picking the correct side of the hill makes a nice difference. Wind blowing the tent when you're trying to sleep ain't fun. Finally, if you have room in the tent to do stuff, you'll find it better.

Janeboylan

I've camped in Lough Dan its a really nice spot, beside the lake there is a really nice beach, i probably wouldn't set up camp there as alots of people who walk around that spot but there is a group of trees further down from the beach thats where we set up for the nite as your away from everyone. We also parked our van around there over nite, but someone took the side mirror off. That was about 3yrs ago, I'm now living in Laragh and the local gardai have really put a clamp down on cars getting broken into and are constantly driving by car parks checking on the cars, plus its a popular place for walkers so you shouldn't have any problems with your car during the day.

I wouldn't really go to the 3 Rock or Tick Knock its really exposed there, my mum and dad live on the dublin mountain and the wind you get there is horrible and cold and the 3 rock has no shelter unless you want to camp in the forest near it.