gerrym on Oughtmore

This hill has a personal connection in that my great grandfather Bell owned 400 acres here before selling to the forestry service in the 1950's (for £1 per acre). The remains of the old homestead are still visible, surrounded by mature broadleaf trees amid the pine, and the family return periodically to reconnect.

Parking was at the entrance opp the quarry (A (H737 848)) where loads of room. Follow the good track into the forest until a carpark - turn left uphill on tarred road. Views in the forest stretch to the big Sperrin hills to the N and from here brought the hills of Antrim within reach. Continue uphill at a crossroads past a new gate. The wind bringing the trees alive with creaks and groans of protest.

Take a track forking to the left, where the trees soon thin to show the top of Ougthmore a short distance away. Cross the fence where machinery has been accessing the hill - some turf cutting. Pools of water here were thick with clumps of frog spawn. Fairly straight forward jaunt to top reached in 45 minutes from start. There is a small summit cairn which is certainly dwarfed by the far reaching views. North the line of the high Sperrins, West to the Bluestacks, South to Mullaghcarn, Cuilcaigh, Cooleys, Mournes and East to Belfast and Antrim Hills.

Skiffs of rain peppered the ground for seconds and were gone as i returned to the forest track - returning the way i had come. Detoured to the little loughs at B (H736 857) in hope of catching sight of some siska deer but wasn't to be today. Busy through parts of the forest with plenty of walkers and some mountain bikers but easy to lose yourself here. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/862/comment/4586/

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dr_banuska on Oughtmore

I decided to tackle this hill last weekend as it's one of the southermost in the range and closest to where I live. It is somewhat confusing that there are two Oughtmores in the Sperrins: this is the lower and further south of the two. Came with the dog and Discoverer Map 13 - without it I probably never would have even known where it was exactly. Probably the best approach is to head north for several miles off the main Cookstown-Omagh Road, shortly after the turn off for Wellbrook Beetling Mill coming from C'town direction (you seriously will need a map/GPS as even explaining the route is difficult!).

Looks like I parked at the same place as thisbliss: the forest comes into view on the left and there are two tracks opposite and just after a large white house. The left one is surfaced and leads to some old farm buildings and the right, which I took, is an unsurfaced forest track. I followed this for a short time until the start of the forest where there was a wire fence on the right. I walked up along the left side of the wire, easy enough to find a path but quite tough going as you're knee deep in heather most of the time. There are some fine views south and east here: Slieve Gullion, Camlough Mountain, Foye and the full length of the Mournes were clearly visible.

Eventually, once you've reached the top of the forest, the wire turns at a right angle and I followed it to the west for some time, sandwiched between the line of the forest to the left and the wire to the right, until I came to a gate over the main forest track. I climbed over this and followed the track where it forks off to the right towards the summit, a pretty straightforward hike. There is a very small cairn at the peak from where there are stunning panoramic views considering the relatively small height of this hill: besides the ranges already mentioned, I could see Slieve Gallion and part of Lough Fea to the north east, Cookstown, the full length of Lough Neagh and the Belfast Hills to the west; most of the Sperrin range to the north and north west (Sawel and Dart were very prominent); distant peaks that I guessed were the Bluestacks of Donegal; to the south west the table-like profile of Cuilcagh could be seen as well as the south Tyrone/Fermanagh hills such as Brougher, the upland between F'miletown and Fintona and Slieve Divena wind farm near Garvaghy.

Coming down I returned to the gate and this time followed the track straight down through the forest, which was quite an enjoyable if slightly eery walk; there were some deserted old farm buildings pretty deep in the forest. Eventually I came back to where I had branched off to follow the fence.

A very enjoyable afternoon's walking - I would highly recommend taking this circular route just for variety. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/862/comment/3846/

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Pleasant mix of forest, clearings and open hillside

Had a couple of hours to spare while my dogs were being groomed at Tullyhogue, so I headed off to bag Oughtmore, which seemed the nearest and most easily accessible peaks in MV. I parked at the forest entrance near the quarry C (H736 849) (there is enough space here to park away from the barrier, allowing access) and followed the route given by gerrym. This takes you on a wide arc through Davagh Forest Park to the north and then south-west, but the tracks are good and progress is fast. Scenery is quite pleasant as planted, mainly coniferous forestry goes, with some nice clearings, where bilberry was in flower, and a small lake. There are quite a few tracks in Davagh Forest designated for mountain bikers only, which I respected and avoided using as a short-cut or leafy alternative. However, it was a Monday lunchtime and I met nobody on foot or bike during the whole trip. I was a little bit uncertain exactly where to leave the path to strike off cross-country to the summit, but after passing a gate and heading slightly downhill, I realised that this was the best access and returned to cross the gate at D (H719 841). It took only another 10 mins across the open hillside (relatively dry on this occasion) to reach the summit, 50 mins in total from the car park. There were good views towards Slieve Gallion and Carnanelly. Having spotted a decent path to the NE of the summit while on the way up, I was tempted to head for this on the descent, but the open hillside soon gave way to tougher ground with higher heather, so it was feasible, but no short cut time-wise. My recommendation would be to return the same way by the good tracks. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/862/comment/23177/

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Scenery in Davagh Forest

This was one of the most scenic spots on the ascent of Oughtmore. The track visible on the right is marked for mountain bikers only. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/862/comment/23178/

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thisbliss on Oughtmore

Promised myself a climb of this and managed it at the weekend. Parked at entrance to forest track E (H734 844). Walked up the track and where it reaches a crest turned left and set out over open ground. There was still plenty of snow lying about in patches and the ground was swampy so had to pick the steps out. Took about 40 mins to reach the top. Great views for a small mountain. Easily 7 or 8 counties can be seen. Good scenery of the bulk of the sperrins with a scattered coat of snow. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/862/comment/3414/

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