slemish on Slievenanee

Somewhat overlooked by most hikers in favour of neighbouring Trostan, it should be remembered that Slievenanee is in fact the second highest mountain in Antrim. In order to avoid too much walking through boggy terrain I parked at the layby on the Orra scenic route between Newtowncrommelin and Cushendall (A (D154 216)). The road at this point reaches 415m and is one of the highest public roads in Northern Ireland, beaten only by the Park-Cranagh road in the Sperrins. Ascend the mountain from here keeping the fence to your left. Very boggy on the initial stages but the ground gets firmer as you go up. You will pass a small cairn on the approach to the summit area, which is vast - bigger even than Trostan's. Unlike Trostan however the bog hasn't eroded completely so care should be taken when exploring, which is required to fully appreciate the fabulous views: to Glenariff forest and glen, Mid Hill, Slemish, the Sperrins, Slieveanorra, Knocklayd, Rathlin island and the Scottish isles. The weather was fine, warm and surprisingly wind-free allowing me to spend a good 15 minutes on the summit - only last week on Trostan the wind was incredible. Contrary to what the other comments say there is in fact a small cairn marking the summit at an impressive 543m. I descended by the same route. A fairly straightforward climb and much less of a slog than Trostan. Total trip about 1 hour. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/369/comment/3692/

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walker_hollick on Slievenanee

A useful fence can be followed much (but not all) of the way from Trostan to Slievenanee. Leave the fence when it turns sharply to the right and head in a roughly south-westerly direction. You should pass a cairn shortly before reaching the summit area. From here you can head southeast to Agan Bridge (if you started out from Glenariff Forest). This avoids retracing your steps over very boggy terrain. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/369/comment/1034/

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simon3 on Slievenanee

If you were visiting you would probably summit Slievenanee immediately before or after Trostan, which means that you will walk the boggy land in between. Certainly the day that I was there this was comparable to one of the worst parts of Wicklow, with deeply cut, eroded bog and stretches of jelly-peat. Quite unlike Wicklow however is the pristine nature of the area. This is pure: natural vegetation alteration caused by climate change. The photo shows part of Slievenanee. At no point on it were there any signs whatever of footprints. Unlike Trostan, the summit does not have an area where the bog has completely eroded. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/369/comment/941/

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simon3 on Slievenanee

According to the GPS, the bumps visible in this picture were probably the highest point of Slievenanee. There was no other mark that we could find. A summit strictly for the purist. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/369/comment/942/

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Summit?

Climbed up by the fence from the Old Cushendun Rd to a small cairn - but not the top. Drifted off NE to look for the top & eventually spied another, but not completely convinced it occupies the highest point. Mindful of the comments of others I chose a summer day after a dry spell and it was well worth it, I could just walk over the usually boggy summit. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/369/comment/15052/

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