slemish on Douglas Top

Douglas Top is one of Antrim's most underrated hilIs. The climb is very easy but on a clear day like today the views are magnificent. I parked in a little lay-by where the Antrim Hills way crosses the Shilnavogy road (B (D253 032)). It's just a short climb (less than 30 vertical metres) from here over slightly boggy moorland to the summit area. Take your pick as to where the actual 402m summit is as the whole area is very flat with no obvious mark such as a cairn. And so to those views: Slemish of course dominates the view northwards but if conditions are clear, much of the Antrim plateau is visible - from Trostan, Slievenanee, Carncormick and Mid Hill to the north, the Scottish isles and North Channel to the north-east, Glenarm and Agnew's Hill to the east, south to Divis and Big Collin then westwards to the Sperrins. An easy but rewarding climb which can be done in less than 30 minutes. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/818/comment/3739/

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pdtempan on Douglas Top

The best thing about Douglas Top is definitely the view, so it is not too hard to see why it has remained uncommented until now. We combined this summit with a Sunday bike ride from Ballymena to Larne, which also took in Slemish. A good alternative would be to include it in a walk along the Antrim Hills Way, although the waymarked trail stops about 500m short of the summit. After leaving Slemish, we passed the Swine Craes, traditionally the scene of St. Patrick's captivity as a boy shepherd. We then had a long, hard climb by bike to the pass at Shillanavogy, where the road crosses the watershed from the Braid Valley to Glenwhirry. Leaving our bikes at the pass, we had just 1 km to walk to Douglas Top, and just 20 m of ascent. The Antrim Hills Way briefly leads west towards Douglas Top, before veering away to the north. A couple of fences have to be negotiated to reach the 402m spot height. Slemish dominates the view, but Lough Neagh, Slieve Gallion and the Sperrins were also visible. We visited another knoll to the SW which also just breaks the 400m contour and found that this opens up a view to the south, which includes the Belfast Hills, the Mournes and Slieve Gullion. Nearer at hand is Glenwhirry and the wind-farm at Elliot's Hill. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/818/comment/3136/

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Good views from so-so top.

Douglas Top doesn't have too many redeeming features, unless you count the ease with which it is bagged, but among them is the fine view to the north west of Slemish, standing in splendid isolation. As I viewed it on a grey day, there was a momentary break in the clouds and one side of it was suddenly lit up, beautifully illuminating what is probably Antrim's finest mountain. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/818/comment/23766/

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