everything but the kitchen sink

Mullaghmore is somewhat overlooked in the Sperrin range due to the presence of higher summits nearby but it is still an excellent mountain in its own right. I took the easy option of parking beside the gate on the Moydamlaght road at the start of the access road to the transmitter ( Moydamlaght Road, Mullaghmore (C733 019) ) and ascended the mountain from there. Not too steep at all and you quickly reach the summit plateau area with the views ever-widening as you ascend. I noted marymac's comment that some moron had left an old gas cooker near the summit but since then it has been joined by an old fridge, electric hob and washing machine. Perhaps someone is trying to design the ultimate 'open-plan' kitchen on top of Mullaghmore? On a more serious note, one wonders what kind of person would spoil our beautiful mountain scenery by such careless actions. The whole summit area is a bit of a dump actually with bricks, timber and pieces of metal lying around while the huge communications mast and dilipidated building associated with it are very much an eyesore. The actual 550m summit is just behind the mast when approaching via the road - one large boulder sticks out of a small raised area and that is the summit, unmarked of course like so many of the Sperrins. Despite the general unpleasantness of the summit area the views from Mullaghmore are very good indeed. From the higher Sperrins to the west, south to Slieve Gallion and Lough Fea and east to the Antrim Hills. There is an interesting view to the north where Binevenagh just peeks out behind Benbradagh and further still across Lough Foyle lie the hills of Inishowen. To the north-west I could easily pick out the distinctive profiles of Muckish and Loughsalt Mountain in Donegal. On a very clear day I expect the Mournes and Scottish isles would also be visible from this mountain. The walk could easily be extended to near-neighbour White Mountain if desired but I kept that for another day. Instead of returning via the access road, I took the direct route straight down the mountainside and back to the car. I would definitely recommend this hill if in the area due to the easy climb and long-range views. It took me less than an hour to get up and down. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/359/comment/6374/

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gerrym on Mullaghmore

Parked at entrance to Glenshane Forest on the Glenshane Pass ( A (C777 043) ) where there is ample room for a number of cars. Headed downhill along the forest track (passing a memorial to Anastasia who died in 1993 ?) which is part of the Ulster Way. Go straight at intersection of tracks, through gate 1, and follow the beginnings of the River Roe for a good part of the track. Steep uphill section which ends in what appears to be an old disused quarry. There is a cross and stone here inscribed with the words "The Priests Chair". The boulders here had the appearence of old headstones and the dense forest and trees creaking in the wind gave a Blair Withcy feel.
I quickly headed out of the trees to the right onto open hillside and headed due S for the top of point 478 m, reached in 1 hour. Great views from here E over the lowlands of Lough Neagh basin and along the long line of hills from Antrim - Belfast - Mournes. Follow edge of hill to reach a track above Moydamlaght forest which leads to Craig-na-Shoke. Ravens were soaring here and thier dep calls hung in the air. Climb above the cliffs and follow the hillside to the summit of Mullaghmore. The views from here in the air from the N were simply amazing - far N to the Scottish islands, far S to the Mournes and far W to the Donegal highlands.
Follow the service road for the communications mast downhill for a short time and then head out over the moorland for the summit of Whiter Mtn. There are some rare Sperrin rocks here to shelter in and have lunch. Continue NE for Glenshane Mtn and then Corrick Mtn. I went over the top of this one and regretted it due to the deep heather with many hidden ditches, progress was slow and would have been wiser to follow the fence around the summit area. Drop down towards the Roe river, picking up the Ulster Way again, a gentle stroll along a green track which leads back to Glensahne Forest and the entrance. Took 4 hours in all, met some people in the forest which seems to well used for recreation. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/359/comment/2197/

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Moneyeany Moydamlaght and the Mullagh

Mullaghmore, like Slieve Gallion, is one of the distinctive tops that can be seen from the east of Northern Ireland when looking to the 'wild west'. It is also very accessible using the tracks rising steeply through Moydamlaght Forest, just past the hamlet of Moneyeany (grid Moydamlaght Forest (H742 986) sheet 13).

There is room for several cars at the forest entrance. A beautiful stand of beech trees greet the eyes which can walk up through to reach the forest track. The forest has a maze of tracks but they are well defined on the map and a path can easily be charted to the cliffs at Craig-na-shoke ( B (C747 002) ). But just incase after coming out of the beech trees it is right, left uphill, right, left uphill and keep going!

The forest is a bit of a wildlife oasis and is dotted with blue barrels on stands with seed feeders at the bottom. These attract squirrels, grouse and every other sort of bird you might imagine - walk quietly! There is also a bit of a puzzle - a large fenced area in the forest full of huts, feeders and zipwires - a bit like an adventure camp for wildlife. I have tried to find out more but to no avail!

Recent clearfell has opened out views before leave the forest at a height of 400m with the impressive cliffs of Craig na Shoke in front. Can continue straight up hillside fairly easily or more satisfyingly skirt bottom of cliffs and then climb above. The views really open out east over Lough Neagh and to Sleive Gallion. There are some new substancial fences here, if keep above there is a crossing point

Aim for the prominent communications mast at the summit of Mullaghmore about 1.5 km away. The going can be wet and near the summit there are large areas of thick sticky eroded peat. From the summit there are spectacular views west over the Sperrins and east to the line of hills starting with Knocklayd all the way to Slieve Donard. It is not often that other people have been present on this top when i have been, despite the service road to its summit.

From summit head west to pick up the line of cliffs on the eastern flank of the hill. Great views north up the Roe valley with steep prows of hills pouting along its length. These can be followed to the ravine cutting down hillside for Baroney Bridge ( Moydamlaght Road, Mullaghmore (C729 016) ) which is a great little descent with waterfalls and places to stop for a bite to eat. On reaching road turn left (south) and follow back to carpark. Time taken 3 hours. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/359/comment/891/

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mcna on Mullaghmore

I climbed Mullaghmore and White Mountain today. From Omagh, we drove through the heart of the Sperrins - through Greencastle and onto the six towns road. Just before Straw there is a cross roads where we turned left onto the Doon road, through Moneyneany and then veered right on to the Moydamlaght road. The Car park is on the edge of the road at the first road right in the forest (gr Moydamlaght Forest (H743 986) ). There is room for about 6 cars here and a lot of locals seem to walk their dogs so this little car park can be quite busy. We then headed into the forest along the track and at the first junction took a left which led straight up a hill. The track took us to the top of the forest where we made another right turn and out into open hillside at Craig-na-shoke. You know you’re approaching this when you see the sign "Moydamlaght Nature Reserve". At this point the weather was fabulous. Craig-na-shoke looked amazing. We gained 250m in height coming up through the forest. I had planned a tea break at the bottom of the cliff but I did a rece of the mound in front of the cliffs. I crossed the fence and up to the highest point on this mound. We had our tea with spectacular views over the area. This point was about 150m east of the forest track. We went back to the end of the path, followed the edge of the forest and used a small gully to begin the ascent of this route ( C (C742 006) ). There was ice on the ground and the grass was slippery. Careful foot placement was required but the views were amazing as we quickly gained height. We then climbed towards the fence (Bearing of about 285o), crossed over the fence just before the unsightly telecommunications mast. We spent about 10 minutes on the summit taking in the breathtaking views on all three sides (there was cloud over White mountain behind us) It took about 2 hours to the top from the car park - including tea break and photography time! From here we moved back over to the fence and walked to where it veered west ( D (C740 009) ). Took a bear here on the summit on White Mountain - which was now visible (9o). This was heavy going, even though most of the bog was frozen, there was numerous streams to be negotiated and we found it near impossible to walk on the bearing without disappearing down a bog hole! we just trudged along - then in came a fall of snow driven by the wind, cloud cover came rolling behind us. This was hard work with little reward. The two summits are about 1Km apart) the summit was shrouded in mist that didn't let up while we had our lunch. After about 20 minutes we started our descent. I decided it was best to take a bearing on the U-bend of the service road that leads to the top of Mullaghmore (GR E (C734 023) ) because visibility was so poor and all we had was endless bog in front of us. This worked and we arrived at the u turn give or take 20 or 30 M. From here we followed the service road to junction with Moydamlaght road and walked the 3.1Km along the road back to the car park. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/359/comment/2589/

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Blustery on a cold March afternoon.

Nice and easy walk across from Bohilbreaga via Craig-na-shoke and along the edge of the ridge. It was pretty windy here today making it interesting to take a summit photo. The nearby mast and buildings are a bit of an eyesore but necessary in today's modern age. However, the extensive digging of the area around the summit is more destructive and ugly in my opinion. This was my second summit today on a 20km circuit which I've uploaded as a route. Linkback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/359/comment/15947/

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