Moderate difficulty mountain hike

masterK

i am looking for recommendations for a mountain hike of around 5 hours that is moderately difficult for mainly beginner hikers. We've recently done Croagh Patrick which we all completed relatively comfortably.

Ideally we would like a route that is obvious to follow if such a thing exists without the need for maps/compass etc. Most I have seen on sites such as MountainViews.ie are not straight forward.

rizzodun

masterK wrote: »

i am looking for recommendations for a mountain hike of around 5 hours that is moderately difficult for mainly beginner hikers. We've recently done Croagh Patrick which we all completed relatively comfortably.

Ideally we would like a route that is obvious to follow if such a thing exists without the need for maps/compass etc. Most I have seen on sites such as MountainViews.ie are not straight forward.

Benbulben in Sligo. The route is easy to follow, if you hike to the trig point and then the nose of the mountain it takes about 3.5 - 4 hours.

Cushtie

Mount Brandon from the Cloghan side.

Fairly well marked with a well worn trail.

tphase

Mweelin loop, opposite Kylemore abbey (12 Bens) and Mam Ean to Mam an Ochoige (Maamturks) are both straightforward in good weather. Less so if the cloud base drops.


There are few enough marked trails in Ireland so if you want to take up hill-walking, it is essential you get yourself a compass, learn how to use it and how to read maps. Pick up maps of where you're hiking as you go along. They're not that expensive and you'll build up a collection over time

CardinalJ

Slieve Donnard from Newcastle.

If you say where you are in the country people can give you better routes.

masterK

CardinalJ wrote: »

Slieve Donnard from Newcastle.

If you say where you are in the country people can give you better routes.

I'm in Kildare but don't mind a making a weekend out of it.

unkel

Djouce from Crone wood. Easy path, no navigation, 13km, about 4 hours (depending on fitness - you do go up a bit) plus breaks

Some lovely features as you walk up above the Powerscourt Waterfall and from the top of Djouce you have great views of large parts of Ireland and sometimes even Wales. Also of course the "Guinness" lake (Lough Tay)

sheesh

+1 for Brandon here too well worn track from Cloghane side, some pater noster lakes and big high cliffs

probably not as long a hike but Mangerton near Killarney is fairly easy from a navigation point of view too

knucklehead6

You could think about joining one of the Meetup Groups.

There are 4 fairly active ones in the Dublin/Wicklow region that go on hikes all over the country

https://www.meetup.com/TheWHAGs/
https://www.meetup.com/Dublin-Trail-Blazers/
https://www.meetup.com/DUBLIN-FREE-HIKING-GROUP/
https://www.meetup.com/Hiking-in-Wicklow/

That will give you the option of which hikes to attend or not, and most of the leaders in those groups are fairly ok about sharing their knowledge and experience with others.