SLIEVE DONARD Slieve Donard is the Everest of Northern Ireland! Standing at 850 metres , it is the tallest mountain in NI. It is known as the jewel of the Mournes and is the most famous amongst all the peaks. There is a well known song “The Mountains o’ Mourne” written by famous Irish songwriter Percy French which sings “where the mountains of Mourne that sweep down to the sea” indicating Donard in particular as it actually does sweep down to the sea and sits stunningly behind Newcastle town where there is even a pub here named after Percy. ( TOP TIP: I’d advise to visit here after trek and not before!).   There are many different hiking routes you can do in ‘tackling’ Donard, with the two most popular starting from Donard car park in Newcastle or the Bloody Bridge just outside Newcastle. However, I am going to start with taking you on a route that is less known but the scenery is just as beautiful! Trek 1-Slieve Donard via Seefins This route takes you up the side of Sliev

SLIEVE BINNIAN Trek 1- Slieve Binnian hike from front My first big(ish) mountain hike was Big Binnian way back in the early 90s . It stands at   747 metres   and back then I ‘tackled it’ (Mourne lingo!) from the front face (No ice picks were required!).It’s a total trek distance of 3 miles taking 2 hours to complete with which you’re unlikely to meet many people on the way (Just sheep!). You can park at top of Brackenagh East road on the grass verge. Its a relativity easy trek up the lane through gate and follow path until you get to the old quarry which is approximately 1 mile. From here, you can follow the wall which I would class it as moderately steep from here to the top (Ok I stopped once for 2 minutes to ‘tie my lace’ AKA take a breather!). Trek 2- Slieve Binnian hike from rear via Blue Lough In more recent years though I prefer to tackle it from the back as I believe it is the more scenic route and usually far more hikers around