When I wrote recently about Carrick Mountain I described reaching the summit with difficulty by crouching/crawling through forest. I thought THAT was a challenge! Collon Hill doesn’t require crawling. It requires an ability to withstand pain and a willingness to plunge through large swathes of 6 foot high gorse!
I found a Coillte forestry entrance at T302 878 A, which has room for a few cars. Using the forest tracks which were generally accurate on the OS map I made my way to the forest junction at 308 871 D. A steep track lead uphill from here and 5 minutes climbing brought me to a t-junction. I took a right and was on the highest track that rings the hill. I then took a left onto a grassy track not marked on the OS map. This path ran through forest and gorse and it took a route to the north of the summit. I could not find any path out onto the summit and after 20 minutes of searching I had to head directly into the dense gorse. The gorse was well over my head in places and extremely difficult to get through. It took 20 painful minutes to reach the trig point. Ryan and BO had previously made it to the summit and thoughtfully scratched their names on the trig pillar. There is steep rocky ground to the south and west that could be dangerous. The views west to the Wicklow hills were fantastic, marred only by cloud cover. Looking south I could see Arklow and Barranisky Hill, and Croghan Kinsella to the west. The ever present Croghan Moira was visible also. Other than Ryan and BO’s scratchings the summit area was pristine, although the forest tracks bore evidence of intense horse riding. Frankly the gorse is practically impenetrable so perhaps no one has been here since its growth. I dropped down to the nearby forest track to the south. Even this 100 metre journey was nigh on impossible. At the track I turned left and found my way back to my earlier route. Along the way I did not see a single track or opening leading up to the summit area. I would advise that this hill is not for those who aren’t willing to suffer along the way! Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/1011/comment/3327/