MyTourSaintPatricksWay

Length: 15km, ascent 192m Time: 4hr 15min 7th May 2023 Tollymore Forest Park to Dundrum We met in Dundrum and then drove one car to Tollymore. It was a beautiful sunny warm day in Tollymore and we followed the trail to the wall with the Mourne Mountains. There were great views. We then exited Tollymore and walked to Newcastle via Tipperary Lane and Tipperary Woods. This was very scenic especially when following the river. We stopped at the Newcastle Tourist to pick up our penultimate stamp, see below. The sea was very high in Newcastle and there was a cold mist in the town, see photo below. Unfortunately this meant that we were not able to walk along the beach to Murlough Nature Reserve. Instead we walked along the main road and entered via the caravan park. It is unusual for the tide to be so high in Newcastle but I would recommend checking just in case. Murlough Nature Reserve was beautiful as always and we walked across the bridge into Dundrum town. Tollymore to Dundrum The stamp ou...

Length: 16km, 378m ascent Time: 4hr 40min 10th April 2023 We met in Tollymore Forest and then drove to Hen Mountain car park to continue along the Mourne Way. We walked around Hen Mountain but unfortunately missed the signs and partly climbed Slievenamisken. The ground was boggy and wet. We returned to the path to cross Killyleagh Road and walked around the bottom of Spelga Mountain. There was clear signage including at the point were we had to climb Spaltha. Unfortunately there were no signs at the top but we followed a path and with a few wrong turns made our way to the top of Slievenamuck. From there we had scenic views of Spelga Dam. Then down to the Ott car park and along Slievenanan Road to the entrance of Fofanny. Around Fofanny Reservoir and followed the wall to Meelmore Lodge exit. We had the company of sheep and the terrain was uneven. Just after the Meelmore Lodge exit we took the gate along the Trassey Track and just before the Trassey car park, we followed the Mourne way i...

Length: 14.3km, 388m ascent Time: 4hrs 15mins 25th February 2023 Kilbroney Park to Hen Mountain Some friends came along to join us as this was part of the Mournes Way stretch. We met at Leitrum Lodge car park and took half the cars to Kilbroney. It was a warmish, bright day even-though it was in February. The walk through Kilbroney was among trees then coming out into the Mournes. There were no real hills until the gap at Rocky Mountain. The stretch coming down from Rocky was wet and muddy. There were not many markers for the Mourne way. There is a tricky river crossing at the turn near Pigeon Mountain. We stopped at the exit at Hen Mountain. There is a car park at Hen which would've been better to use than Leitrum Lodge but it is smaller so it is best to get there early. We had to walk back along the road to Leitrum Lodge car park. Then down to Kilbroney cafe for a coffee and traybake. Kilbroney to Hen Mountain

Length: 18.6km, 325 ascent Time: 5hrs 11th February 2022  We met at Kilbroney Park, left one car there and drove the other car to Lower Water Street car park in Newry. Unfortunately on the road out of Newry there were no footpaths and reasonably busy with cars. The route out of Newry is on everyday roads. When we got to Carrick Road we got scenic views over the Mournes and Carlingford. The walk down into Rostrevor was enjoyable as we were on narrower roads, passing isolated farms. The locals were very friendly; some even stopped to ask about our walk. We made fast progress and arrived in Rostrevor earlier than expected where we got a latte in a local cafe.      Rostrevor     Fairy Glen, Rostrevor Newry to Rostrevor The stamp is on the lamp post at the entrance to the Kilbroney Park