tsunami on Camlough Mountain

Whilst being an enjoyable viewpoint on its own, Camlough can be combined with Slieve Gullion to make a very enjoyable days walk. Start at the Three Steps pub in Dromintee and take the road opposite for the Slieve Gullion Drive. Follow the drive against the flow of traffic and head for the top car park. From here you take the standard route up to the summit of Slieve Gullion as described on it's pages. Follow the ridge to Calliagh Beara's lough and the North Cairn before descending south easterly. The descent takes you down to St Monina's Well and down the track to Killeavey Old Church. From the church follow the road downhill for a bit and turn left at the crossroads. Along the Keggal road you get to take in the view along Camlough Lake. At the picnic site head right onto the steep slope of Camlough Mountain and simply head upwards. The first summit is Keggal Mountain and the summit of Camlough is straight ahead. The sunnit area is surrounded by a shallow gully (again showing why the army were so comfortable here).There are generally no access difficulties on the upper side of the mountain road so your descent should take you either side of the summit into the gully and around to face over Camlough village. Descend straight down keeping to the right of the obvious maintained land and onto the mountain road. take Gordon's Lane down the remainder into Camlough and call into Emmet Quinns for a well deserved drink. Not a walk which will appeal to the purists on this site due to some country road walking, but nonetheless an excellent and rewarding exploration of South Armagh with some stunning views. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/724/comment/2693/

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tsunami on Camlough Mountain

This magnificent little mountain was off limits to walkers for nearly a quarter of a century until late 2006 when the British army vacated it's summit. The fact that the army spent so long encamped on the mountain is testament to the wonderful views it provides across the Newry valley into Co Down and across South Armagh. The lesser known name for the peak is actually Slieve Gherkin! It provides a similar yet totally different aspect to Slieve Gullion. At present it is a very worhwhile walk because the forest drive around it's southern side remains closed to traffic. It can therefore be a very peaceful if not terribly challenging day on it's slopes. I myself am from Bessbrook and have grown up with the view of this mountain engrained in my memory. For those of you who are not too proud to tackle the smaller hills - definitely come along and see what Camlough has to offer. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/724/comment/2688/

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Calm on Camlough

Used the high forest entrance ( TamBane (J05415 23936)) which has parking at side of road. The forest road certainly makes an impression running straight as a die with walls at either side, wondering if there is something more than the pine trees ahead. The communication masts are visible here, peeking out above the trees.

The forest shade was a welcome break from hot sunshine as i passed trees of honeysuckle. The road meanders up the hillside coming out into a large area of clearfell, where ripe blackberries had to be eaten as i looked over to Slieve Gullion. With height the Cooley Mtns, Carlingford Lough and Slieve Martin come into view.

Leaving the trees it is a short walk to the communication masts - one has an impressive five padlocks all in a row! The summit itself is now visible across a sea of mature heather, a discernable track heads off from behind the first comms station. A few maker posts show the way but it is heavy going and the track can be easily lost in the deep heather. A final steep pull brings the summit itself.

The summit has the remains of a large wooden cross. Views are impressive over Cam Lough to Slieve Gullion, the Cooleys ending impressivley with S Foye, the Mournes from Slieve Martin all the way to Slieve Donard, away N & W to Lough Neagh and the Sperrins, the Belfast and Antrim HIlls. More immediate civilisation brought the busy A1 and Newry but in reality it was a world away.

Return was exactly the same route, taking just over a hour of walking with a few stops added on. A quiet hill with plenty of interest and recent history and stunning views to reward the effort. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/724/comment/6092/

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csd on Camlough Mountain

I parked at TamBane (J05415 23936), the southern start of the forest road. This is still gated off, so as tsunami says, it's a peaceful walk up to the summit. I elected to visit the telecom masts by taking the gravel track left off the main road at the summit at B (J05584 24614), near the car park marked on the OS map. From the telecom masts it's a fairly straightforward cross-country, heather tramp over to the summit of Camlough proper. I can only echo the other comments in that it's easy to see why the army chose this place to keep an eye on things: there are great 360-degree panoramas to be had.Up and down is an easy 5.6 km, so an hour and a half is plenty of time. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/724/comment/3909/

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pdtempan on Camlough Mountain

Another Sunday adventure on NI Railways with a Tracker ticket saw us heading for Newry. A Tracker ticket allows you to go anywhere for just £5.50 - that is, as long as it's not anywhere further afield from Belfast than, say, Derry, Newry, Larne or Bangor. But don't knock it, so far we have managed Ballymena to Larne via Slemish, another outing to Agnew's Hill and Sallagh Braes, and have even made forays south of the border into the Cooley Mountains by taking our bikes on the train and continuing on foot to Carnavaddy and Clermont Carn. Last Sunday our objective was Camlough Mountain aka Newry Mountain, or Slieve Girkin if you prefer. Yes, Slieve Girkin must be right up there with Vinegar Hill (Fiodh na gCaor), Lemon Rock (Lomán) and Carrawaystick Brook (Ceathrú Istigh?) as one of the most ludicrous anglicisations ever of an Irish place-name, which you will either love or hate, depending on your point of view as a purist or one who delights in the sometimes absurd results of linguistic contact. Needless to say, Slieve Girkin has nothing to do with cucumbers of the pickled or unpickled variety. It seems as though it derives from Sliabh gCuircín, 'mountain of the crest/comb', though I've never come across a source to confirm the Irish form (not even Art MacCooey's poems). The first four-fifths of the climb were a cinch, as a road leads up to the old British army masts on the western brow, but the last fifth is not to be underestimated. Leaving the road at the nearest point (hairpin bend at C (J054 250)), we made a beeline for the summit, but it took us half an hour to walk the final 800m and gain the last 100m of height. Not enough time has elapsed since the demilitarisation for walkers to have been beaten much of a path through the bog, heather and moor-grass. However, the fabulous view along the length of Carlingford Lough made it worth while (the Mournes were mostly in cloud). We made our way back to the road, but looping further north, thus avoiding the worst of the bog and heather. An excellent afternoon's outing, but we will have to come again to discover the steeper western flanks and to walk along the banks of Cam Lough. I didn't see the expected rock feature resembling a cock's comb which seemingly gives the mountain its name Sliabh gCuircín, but maybe that too will be revealed by more thorough exploration. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/724/comment/3608/

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