Rough isolated route from Tomies Wood

Park at the end of the new access road at approx. F (V90044 89257). Go in the gate and follow the track around to the right. at the first bend leave the track and head south into the charming oak and holly forest keeping the stream on your right for a whole. The river can be crossed easily after a dry period but if it's in spate there are a few bridges provieed by mother Nature in the shape of fallen trees....there is one of these after about 100m but a few more further on. i would recommend staying inside the forest for as long as possible as its damp mosses and rotting logs can give you a welcome break from life's stresses if you are in receptive mood. When you do emerge from the trees you will see Tomies at the back of the stage curtained by the two northern spurs on either side of the stream. I headed up the western one and topped out on Tomies North Top after a steep pull up...stay a bit to the right to avoid tussocky grass and heather, From here there's a slight drop to a col followed by a steep and largely rocky rise to Tomies summit. The rocks are a fun way up but if you prefer more grassy terrain head on a more eastern line. You should make it to the top in well under 2 hours. I returned the same way because I had no map and there was a bit of a whiteout on my intended route via the eastern spur. If you do descend via the eastern spur it looks less steep than that which you've just ascended and you can stay on the high part of the spur and reach the forest track at approx. G (V90852 88255). If you then want to extend the walk by about 4 km head east and aim for the amazing O' Sullivan's cascades at H (V91523 88499)...you won't be disappointed esp if there's been recent rain. There are other very cool falls just upstream from the bridge at I (V91458 88334).
When you go off track in these woods you are in what feels like virgin forest so tread lightly and keep the numbers in your group as low as possible. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/84/comment/21850/

Read Less

Approached from the north

Approached from the north on 19 Aug 2017, following the track along the laneway north of Kate Kearneys. Perhaps the key to finding this laneway is spotting the two wide gates side by side on the right after you pass the gift shop (Moriarty's) and then Bugler's cottage. Take the gate on the right. The laneway leaves you at the very start of the ridge from where you can follow a fence southwards initially.

The northern reaches of Tomies are boggy with heather and bracken. I'm afraid that there are now the distinct makings of a mucky track developing along this approach, which is not much better underfoot than bracken and heather. I suspect this may be linked to this route being used in recent years for a challenge walk, which tallies with earlier comments which suggested the track was very insignificant previously.

The views are spectacular once you gain the higher ground, particularly looking back into the gap of Dunloe and across to the Eastern reeks. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/84/comment/19700/

Read Less

DickyDonut on Tomies Mountain

See my entry re. Purple Mountain. The sun shone on Tomies when we arrived there, walking south to north on the ridge, and we found a beautiful clump of St Patrick's Cabbage! The way down was a little loose and I would not have fancied it coming the other way. Even trying out the newly bought GPS system got rather lost seeking the end of a fence described in our guide, apparently crossing our route several times! However, the ultimate destination was clear so this was not problem, if you don't mind going sideways down steps of heather, with occasional holes between them! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/84/comment/594/

Read Less

mart on Tomies Mountain

I climbed from the side road near the Bridge north of Kate Kearney's,
making my way up the ridge visible from the road. There is a path a
long the ridge but when you reach the steep northern face you seem to
be on your own and it is just a matter of winding your way up.
Once the ground levels out at about 2000ft you can easily pick out the
summits. Tomies mountain presents a steep finale, which may be across a
jumble of large rocks, if you pick your route wrong. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/84/comment/1895/

Read Less

skyehigh on Tomies Mountain

I do not seem to be alone in finding the descent from Tomies Mountain rather trying. Flogging through heather is not much fun. Where are the paths? There appear to be a few sheep (?) tracks, but mostly they go in the wrong direction. Perhaps I contributed to my own discomfort by heading towards the top of Tomies Rock to obtain a better view through the Gap (see photo), which meant I had to contour back around the hill. It was pleasant, eventually, to leave the trackless heather behind, but then I had trouble locating a route of descent from the ridge and ended up battling with gorse. Would any member who has found this ascent/descent easy please tell us how? Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/84/comment/1903/

Read Less