Enormous landslide at summit - Avoid

The Anglo Celt newspaper has reported an "enormous" landslide earlier this month on the summit plateau of Benbrack. There are said to be deep crevices on either side of the affected area and the ground is described as "very unstable" and should be avoided. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/450/comment/23216/

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Absalon on Benbrack

A relatively pleasant walk on the unloved but not unlovely Benbrack.

Coming from Ballyconnell on the R200 turn L at Black Rocks cross(D (H141 238)) & proceed for 1/2 mile to where a lane crosses the road(E (H140 231)). This lane was part of the old coach road from Cavan to Sligo. (There is parking space 100 m. further on.)

Ascend the lane on R & continue to a sharp bend L. Leaving lane here,go straight through a gate & follow the coach road till it becomes unwalkable. When you have passed the forest on your L & crossed a fence,veer L towards the ridge leading to an obvious cliff locally called the Scalp. Your exact route will depend on the wetness of the terrain. It is an easy ascent from the ridge & the highest point 494 m some metres W of the cliff is marked by a cairn.

Derrynananta Lough,your next goal,can be seen from here to the SW. Following a bearing 230,crossing a barbless fence,skirting 2 little tarns on R & walking over wet & broken ground,you reach the lough some 30 minutes later. Continue due S to reach the barely distinguishable highest point of Benbrack ,502 m, over more broken boggy terrain. There are good views of lowland Cavan E & the hills of Cavan,Leitrim &Sligo W. Further S you come to the edge of the plateau & descend fairly steeply. Now aim for L of forest F (H106 208). Keep this forest on your R till you reach its other end. There join the rushy track entering wood from SE which leads you to a country road. Take the first L turn(past a burnt out house) & follow road through forest to a T. Turn L & walk to your car just over a mile away. Time:4+ hours & fairly strenuous because terrain. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/450/comment/310/

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Keep out ?

Thanks to Absalon for the guide to Benbrack. The only damper on an otherwise lovely walk was that when we got back to the 5 cars carefully parked on the side of the road, each one had a handwritten KEEP OUT notice on the windscreen. I don't like thinking we upset a local in any way but am at a loss as to what we did wrong. The few cars that passed us on the return all had a cheery wave and one farmer I met while doing the recce last week said we were more than welcome on his lands at Benbrack. I hope this doesn't prevent future access to what turned out to be a great day out. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/450/comment/14977/

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csd on Benbrack

I approached Benbrack from the southwest, on the road you that takes you past Ben Croy. Parking the car at G (H06742 20440) near the radio transmission masts, you can follow the rough track which will take you closer to the summit. From then it's a slog over the heather, through the bogs, to the track shown on sheet 26 skirting the forest. This track is in the process of being dug up by a JCB, so isn't really much use. Benbrack has a flat summit, riven by peat hags, so it's difficult to find the highest point. Great views from the summit, especially in the snow. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/450/comment/2546/

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Jaak on Benbrack

Nice pleasant climb, although the weather was very poor on the day we bagged it. Started at H (H12386 20061), which is a gate to farmland adjacent to a forest entrance - plenty of parking space here. Enter the farmland and keep to the left hand side of the fields, close to the forest. At the end of the forest the landscape changes to open bogland, with the cliffs of Benbrack clearly visible ahead. The easiest route over the cliffs is to head for an obvious gap about half ways across them - Mag bearing 316 from the end of the forest, although more energetic climbers may opt for the shorter more direct route up the cliffs, which are not dangerously steep, but are a bit of a slog. If you opt to go via the gap in the cliffs, it is a short and relatively easy climb to reach the rim of the mountain, from where it is a short walk to the summit. Although other contributers have described the summit of Benbrack as unmarked, we came across two distinct cairns. The main one, a large stone assembly, close to a circular stone arrangement, is located at I (H102 218), while another smaller cairn exists about 200 metres from this. The smaller one seems to be on higher ground than the large one, although it was quite difficult to judge as visibility was poor at the time and it was not possible to view both at the same time. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/450/comment/2663/

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