Slieve Gullion, Co Armagh

Walk grade: Strenuous

This challenging mountain walk begins at The Courtyard centre inside Slieve Gullion Forest Park.

We'll walk up the path’s gentle slope through deciduous woodland and a magical children's forest. The open mountain paths then become steeper.

We'll walk up to the passage tomb that can be accessed at the top after a steep climb. This is the same as the one at Newgrange. We'll walk to the stunning lake at the summit. After the summit, we'll walk past Calliagh Berra’s Lake and descend on the other side of the mountain where we'll have a car drop to ferry the car drivers back to the lower carpark at the Courtyard.

The walk is about 6-8 miles long and the pace will be leisurely. The walk should take about 4 hours. Anyone with good fitness will be fine. For a shorter walk, you can drive to the upper carpark, we can discuss this on the day.

Bring a packed lunch.

This is an all day event and return to Belfast could be as late as 6pm.

Wear warm, suitable walking gear including proper walking boots/shoes. ABSOLUTELY NO TRAINERS. Walking poles, sticks would be helpful too.

Post up if you need a lift and another member coming from your area may oblige. As always drivers receive petrol fare from each passenger.
There's now a £5 charge per car to use the car park, another reason to try to car pool :)

Click on the location for map and directions.

Head towards Newry on A1 from Belfast at Sprucefield. Come off A1 at Forkhill & follow signs for Slieve Gullion Forest Park which will bring you through the village of Meigh.

Walk costs £6 for non-members and guests and £1 for members. Please read 'Pages' for more info on the group.

See you then. Take care. Maria
Lost or late, phone or text me on 07583 042962

Here's some folklore:

Slieve Gullion (‘slieve’ meaning mountain in Gaelic), stands at 573m and is the highest point in Co Armagh.

We'll see great views of the Ring of Gullion peaks of Croslieve, Slievebrack and Mullaghbane Mountain.

Views of the peaks of Slievenacapple and the Ring of Gullion stretch to the north. This is where legends abound with the legendary giant Finn McCool.

At the summit of Slieve Gullion is the Neolithic South Cairn Passage Grave. The tomb, the highest remaining passage tomb in Ireland, can be entered from just below the summit.

Panoramic 360 degree views from the summit take in the Mourne Mountains, Carlingford Lough, The Cooley Peninsula, the Armagh Drumlins and beyond.

We'll also explore the eerie Calliagh Berra’s Lake. It is named after a sorceress who bewitched Finn McCool. Tricked by the femme fatale into diving into the lake, Finn was transformed into a wrinkly old man with silver hair (that must be what has happened to some of our male walkers - only joking!).

The spell was mostly reversed – but with the exception of his silvery mane. Legend has that the same silvery fate awaits anyone unfortunate enough to fall in!