Beware the Dragon

Starting point is the attractive amenity site at foot of Slieve Croob (C (J301 453)) with plenty of parking. This is already at a considerable height of 350m, making tops in the area an easy enough task.

Walk south along road and then turn right and uphill, passing sheep, horses and the call of roosters! Turn left at brow of hill onto a gravel lane (D (J298 451)) with expansive northern views for company, as the track climbs Slieve Gullion comes into focus. At the gates head left for the hillside. Walking is easy and a number of rocky outcrops provide targets.

A small pool of water had an enormous looking dragonfly darting about on the way to the summit in a short 20 minutes. This has a number of stones which may or may not have some significance? What is not in doubt is the views which all knit together perfectly. East to S Croob, Irish Sea and Isle of Man, south to the seriously impressive Mournes, Slieve Foye and Cooley Hills with Slieve Gullion, North and west to the expanse of Lough Neagh, the Sperrins, Antrim and Belfast Hills and Belfast itself!

The hill was alive with birds, butterflies and flies of all shapes and sizes on this warm August day. Added to the wonderful views it gave a great feeling of being alive, especially after not having been out in the hills for a few weeks - it was good to be back. Return was by the same short route. Of course it only made sense to head for the top of Slieve Croob too!! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/697/comment/6069/

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Easy hill

Done this in a loop with slieve croob, slievenisky and slivenagarren,. Clear day and it is not a problem to do a loop. We parked at slieve croob car park Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/697/comment/21509/

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pdtempan on Cratlieve

It seems that the track mentioned by csd has recently been improved and extended. It is much longer than marked on the map. After following it uphill for about 300m, you reach two gates. Passing through the gate on the left, you can climb to the summit across open but easy ground. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/697/comment/3669/

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csd on Cratlieve

Cratlieve is less than 20 minutes from the car park at the base of the Slieve Croob walk. I followed the track to the north of the mountain as shown on sheet 20, then headed up to the left once the fence petered out. All very straightforward, and should take only 15 - 20 mins from the car park. Unfortunately I can't comment on the view, as it was obscured by low cloud. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/697/comment/3205/

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A fruitful walk

Found the bilberries bigger and riper high on the mountain than lower down in Drumkeeragh Forest. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/697/comment/23210/

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