Maumtrasna is one of the most singular mountains in Ireland, a monumental sprawl of plateau plunging away in viciously steep slopes around almost all of its perimeter; these slopes are themselves deeply incised by a large number of substantial corries. The summit area itself is mostly very straightforward going but largely featureless; when this is combined with the lack of a genuinely easy ascent from valley level it becomes clear that Maumtrasna is a mountain whose exploration requires some experience within the party.

Maumtrasna rears directly above the N59 road from Westport to Leenaun around 10-15km short of the latter, and its ascent is most generally made from this direction. There is decent parking at Glencally Bridge (L93504 65652 A) from where the river may be followed south to its junction with the Glenfree River. Following this east leads to a selection of drainage courses that can be used to reach the plateau; all are steep (some excessively so) and the easiest of them is probably the one leading north after c. 1.5km. Once aloft an easy and almost level walk heads eastwards along the fringes of the plateau before bending south to reach the summit (note that this is NOT the location of the triangulation pillar). Other ascents could be made from further east on the N59, but their potential steepness must be considered.

Ascents are also possible from Lough Nafooey to the south, for example from the shore at (L98220 60292 B) up either the Skeltia or Leynabrick spurs, or from the head at (L94825 60178 C) up the Benwee spur. These routes are also, inevitably, steep.

It should be noted that the ascent of Maumtrasna combined with a visit to the contrasting neighbouring summits of the Devilsmother constitutes one of the very best mountain traverses in Ireland. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/132/comment/4892/

Maumtrasna is a hulking monolith of a mountain that is primarily a large plateau of broken uneven ground of rock and bog the stretches for over 3 kilometres. The deep corries and lakes around the mountain make for far more interesting hikes than the summit itself. This hike takes in the lakes on the Eastern side of the mountain with a trip in to the centre of the plateau top bag the summit. If bagging summits is not the name of your game then don't bother and stick with a ridge walk overlooking the lakes. My route starts at a bridge at M02973 64246 D where there is room for one car but with the route I ended up taking I would suggest parking at the car park at Lough Nadirkmore. I followed the farm track for about a kilometre until I came to a section of the road where the small bridge has collapsed. From here head West onto the open ground aiming for either the spur to the North or South of the lakes, both of which involve a steep climb. After this the hard climbing is done. From here handrail the ridge overlooking the lakes, and if you must bag the summit head West across the sprawling plateau for about 2 kilometres before swinging back around to take in the highlight of the walk overlooking Lough Glenawough. I had planned to head to Barnahowna and follow the ridge from here back to the start but looking out at the stream flowing along the valley I decided to drop down some steep ground through the forestry and follow the stream back to the farm track from the start of the hike. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/132/comment/20629/

Did a route over Maumtrasna and Devil`s Mother last week, went to park at Glencally Bridge was greeted by the sign in Photograph. Was able to park about 150m further north on side of road , room just about for 2 cars. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/132/comment/23124/

Driving north along the N59, the craggy and deeply corried frontage of Maumtrasna presents a very different aspect to the other (splendid) Connemara ranges, one ripe with gully and buttress scrambling potential. We had a crack at the very obvious gully (OSi 38, 65/94) running down Luga Kippen above Houston's Bridge. Anyone familiar with 'gill' scrambling in England's Lake District will recognise its appeal immediately. By contrast with many popular Lakes gills (ravines/gullies), care was needed with some loose rock and handholds, a sure sign of little if any previous human passage. The first half up to the obvious fork in the stream offers very enjoyable Grade 1 scrambling, with a fair volume of water on our day making a drenching unavoidable. However, great care was needed on a wholly speculative venture not to get into a situation we couldn't retreat from. At around the half-way point, despite this, a detour out onto the innocuous-looking left hand side of the ravine to avoid a shortish but very wet and greasy pitch resulted in us getting stuck on that wall where the heather, grass, mud and rock were all shockingly loose, and much steeper above than expected. A very awkward bit of self-extrication with the rope (thank God we'd brought it) was needed to get two of the three of us back down safely to the stream bed, from where a safe retreat back down and out on to the hillside was possible. The photo shows us at roughly that point (nb the slopes to figure's right are in reality v.steep) The upper gully shown is much more enclosed, with sheer inescapable walls on either side and signs of steep impassable falls. The entire route looks to require near-drought conditions and full gear for belays and possible abseil retreat. But parties with rock climbing or high-grade scrambling experience should definitely note this route, and indeed take time to explore the largely undocumented possibilities Maumtrasna and the Partrys hold. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/132/comment/1172/

HC Hart [Climbing in the British Isles 1895] gives an alternative name for this summit of Formnamore. He wasn't overly impressed with it, saying of this and the Devil's Mother (they) ".. form a series of high barren tablelands, dotted with pools, and of no interest whatever". But then he was looking for climbing.
The picture is of the eastern side of Maumtrasna. Although not particularly tall at 682m this mountain covers a vast area, being about 7 by 8.5 km in extent. There are at least ten corries all around with, as usual, the north and east facing ones being the biggest.

If you are interested in the geology of a place near the area, have a look at this
this in which you can find out about an ancient volcano to the south of Maumtrasna on the east spur of Ben Beg.

The panoramic photo shows the eastern side of the mountain, the summit being nearly 4km behind Binnaw. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/132/comment/637/