Having spent my Sunday off completing household chores I had a need to get out in the fresh air and Croaghan fitted the bill perfectly. It's a decent walk, less than an hour and close to home. I have been up hear a few times before and I knew it was a while since my last visit but was surprised to see it was almost 9 years ago!

I used the same route as many others but this hill may soon need a different approach as the first hedge has only one crossing point now (be careful of the barbed wire!) and if the farmer fixes the gap then it's pretty impassable.

At the third fence the downhill side of the next fence you follow along has become really overgrown with brambles and gorse. I decided to go along the uphill side which was a mistake. Stick with the downhill side as it soon clears after approx 20m. This is definitely not passable in shorts and I'd highly recommend heavier trousers if possible. My light leggings didn't really do the job today!

The trigpoint has a flag pole attached since my last visit but no flag today. Seems like a lot of effort to go to for very little reward as I doubt the flag would be visible from the valley below.

Today the views were fantastic. I could see Knockavoe where I was last week, a cracker sunset over the Bluestacks and a great view of Mongorry with Beltany Tops in between.

Leaving the summit along a surprisingly well defined path there appears to be a path heading to the left of the forestry plantation but I didn't have time to explore where it went. This might provide an alternative if the fence mentioned earlier gets closed off.

Full report and photos on my blog: https://idlecyclist.wordpress.com/2021/10/10/hike-croaghan-hill-and-fearns-hill/
. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/1028/comment/23302/