Climbed Croaghan, with a friend, on 26 Jan 2010. We started at Altarichard Car Park D123293 A and turned left along the road until we reached a waymarker with red and blue arrows pointing the way to the hill D120297 B. The route we followed was the 6.5 miles Breen Forest Trail (red arrows). At present the waymarking will safely guide the walker around this loop walk but for added security, should the waymarkers not always remain in place, I have included a number of map references around the route. This has been influenced by gerrym's comment (May 2008) that the car park contained a packed information board detailing the Breen Walk and other information. Sadly the car park is now clearly a shadow of its former self! The decorative entrance wall is crumbling fast either due to weather erosion or vandalisim and the notice board refered too by gerrym is no longer there! While there is adequate parking on a good surface there is also evidence that it is being used as a tip for rubbish. However, back to the walk! Once at the highpoint of the waymarked path the unmarked summit lies a few metres to the left (W) on the other side of the fence D118308 C. This said the top while a little bumpy is really quite flat. A short distance S of the top is a small cairn of stones which clearly does not mark the top as it is on the downslope. For anyone simply wishing to bag the top, up and down could be achieved in a leisurely 50 minutes. As the views from the top are well described in other comments I will not add to these, suffice to say that to-day the view of the Sperrins rising out of the low level mist was magnificent. From the top we went N down to the forest at D117316 D where we joined a soft green grassy forest ride, but beware! in places it is very soft so much so that I went down some distance over my knees and was glad I had my colleague to help pull me out. This grassy ride later becomes a stone forest track and continues on to a T-junction at D1250033150 E. Turn right and stay with the forest track right to it's end at D126307 F. Turn right along a rough track and follow it out to the open hillside before turning left along the forest edge. Watch for a stile up to your left , go over it and then descend left again to a forest track at D1282730598 G. Follow it to a T-junction D132297 H, turn right and follow out to the road where a right turn leads back to the car park. While I enjoyed the walk I feel I could not have justified a round trip of over 100 miles simply to bag this top. Without doubt the best part of the walk is in the first 30 minutes climbing up to Croghan summit. The waymarking at present is excellent and although much of the remainder of the walk is in the forest there are many cleared areas with expansive views. For anyone looking for a shorter loop the blue waymarkers take a shorter looped return roue back to the start. Trackback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/748/comment/4375/

I had never climbed Croaghan before today and wasn't expecting much but it turned out to be an excellent little hill. I parked at a lay-by just off the Altarichard road (119297 I). The trail towards the 417m summit is clearly marked from here all the way up. As the other comments state the trail is badly eroded and after a summer of heavy rain it was like walking through treacle. I advise staying off the trail by a couple of metres where the ground is firmer. Not too steep on the ascent but the deep heather slows you down somewhat. Fortunately at about 390m this gives way to short grass for the final approach to the peculiar knobbly summit, which is in contrast to the 'rounded dome' shape of most of the Antrim hills. The view north from Croaghan is hidden on the ascent until the last minute and is worth waiting for. A fabulous view down Glenshesk and past Knocklayd to the cliffs on Rathlin island. Further still the distant Paps of Jura were crisply outlined aginst the blue sky - perhaps the clearest I've ever seen them. Slievanorra with its twin masts dominates the view to the south-east with the tops of Trostan and Tievebulliagh also visible. The walk could be extended through Breen Wood if desired and today that would have been nice as it was unseasonably warm for mid-October. However I headed back down to the car to complete a very enjoyable and peaceful walk - it can done in 40 minutes. Trackback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/748/comment/4212/

This walk came to my attention through 'walkni.com ' - a 50 page booklet with brief walk descriptions throughout N. Ireland is available free from thier site. The start is approached from the A44 to Ballycastle, following the sign for the Orra Beg scenic route towards the line of the Antrim Hills. This road rises to over 1000ft and the carpark at Altarichard (123293 A). A packed information board details the Breen Forest walk, as well as local flora and fauna.

Take to the road and walk downhill following the markers which are excellent throughout the walk. Cross the Cornashesk Burn and start up the hillside, over wet ground and then a narrow trail through mature heather. The ground was tinder dry after the recent dry spell and as i was wearing shorts my legs took a pasting from the heather. The going is relatively easy and a stile brings a grassy final slope to the long broad top. I had cracking views W to the Sperrins, N to Knocklayd and the eastern half of Rathlin island beyond, E and S to the sharp drops of high ground as the Glens dropped down to the sea. Croaghan is sandwiched between its bigger neighbours of Knocklayd and Slieveanorra and they do tend to dominate views.

A long gentle drop to the N, past a pool of water and some persistently wet ground, brings the forest and a nice walk through the trees to a forest road. This road has been seriously upgraded with a near snooker table finish. There now follows a long walk through the woods, which joins the Moyle Way for a time, and then curves back along the side of the mountain in a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs - not everyones cup of tea perhaps. On the way a large area of clearfell took on the sight of a battle field, with the sun shining strongly on the tree stumps making them appear as headstones for those who had fallen (how strong was that sun?). Primroses and even nettles held my attention on the way.

The guide says 5.5 miles and 2.5 hours - my GPS says 6.2 miles and 2.25 hours and i am sure someone else will say something else. Not a bad walk in the great weather, with good views on the open section. Trackback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/748/comment/3112/

It's time to welcome Nicky McBride ("The Antrim Rambler") to the world of Irish mountain video makers. Croaghan is not the most spectacular of creatures but that is immaterial: Nicky gives the potential walker an excellent idea of what to expect. And it's all done with crystal clear video images. This appears to be a job done by two walkers: one filming and one moving. Plenty of colour. I look forward to more material.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEbqTaOIVpU Trackback: https://mountainviews.ie/summit/748/comment/17902/