Get Lost Mountaineering

Torc Mountain from the North from near Muckross

Start/Finish

From Killarney, take the N71 road towards Kenmare. Torc Waterfall car park is well signed and about 4 miles from Killarney.

Distance/Time

8 km     About 4 - 5 hours

Peaks

Torc Mountain, 535 m, V 956 839    (Irish National Grid System)

Irish OS Discovery Series Maps 78 (1:50000)

Introduction

Despite its seemingly modest height, Torc Mountain is every inch a mountain which offers excellent views of Mangerton Mountain, Purple Mountain, Broaghnabinnia, Crohane and the Killarney Lakes. The end of the route goes past the very impressive Torc Waterfall which is less than 300 m from the start. Navigation down from the top is easy with way mark posts and there are no boggy sections as slabs and railway sleepers have been used to improve the path.However, the route up is very, very tough and cannot really be recommended except for the utterly insane! Very much the easy option is to ascend and descend by the tourist route which has been posted separately. What makes it so tough is that steep ground overgrown with heather and dense rhododendrons is virtually impassable and makes for extremely slow progress. There seem to have been paths in the past but they are now severely overgrown.

Route

(1) From Torc Waterfall car park, follow the red route which crosses the main road and rejoins it further towards Kenmare. Cross over and follow the red route which is well signed. This shadows the busy road and undulates considerably. After about 1 ½ km, a prominent sign indicates the start of the ascent which is a very long series of rocky steps, perhaps over a thousand. Eventually, emerge at a T junction. There is no sign but the red route obviously goes left but an old path goes right. Take this. It is easy to follow but overgrown in places. It crosses a stream almost immediately then heads roughly west. When it starts to descend just after a bare rock on the left, go over this rock and start to ascend on a faint path. From here the going is extremely tough especially due to the rhododendrons. Keep picking a way up. In places there is a hint of a path but it is overgrown. If you gradually drift right, W, you will find an old stony path which is badly overgrown. Follow this up, forcing your way through the vegetation until you finally reach the top of the rhododendrons. A machete would be useful! You may emerge in an East – West “hollow” with some large boulders. Only deep heather to contend with now! There are what seem to be paths but most peter out fairly quickly. The summit is roughly E of here and much higher up although it depends where you have emerged. In mist, be careful not to aim for the subsidiary top which is about 600 m WSW of the summit although you may wish to aim for the dip between the two tops. Continue towards the summit and you should approach it from its W ridge which has a path on it. To the S, you should see the boarded path of the tourist route as the boards almost reach the summit. The top of the mountain is a short, almost level ridge and this marksthe summit of Torc Mountain, 535 m. There is no cairn. A path seems to lead down towards the lakes but it only goes down a short distance to better viewpoints and is not a descent route.

(2) Follow the boards and path all the way down, S overall, to join the track before the river which is the Kerry Way. The path down to here zig-zags a lot, considerably adding to the distance. Turn left and follow the track to a bridge over the river. Turn right here and continue to the car park at the end of the public road. Just after, turn left then right, signed Torc Waterfall, and follow the path and steps down to the foot of the very impressive waterfall. The path then continues, in under 10 minutes, back to the start.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 5^th April, 2014.

(b) The Fossa camp and caravan site, at V 910 923 is very good and very well situated for the Killarney mountains, especially Macgillycuddy's Reeks and Purple Mountain as it is only about 3 miles from Kate Kearney's Cottage. At Fossa, there are camping and caravanning facilities as well as a hostel and static trailer vans can also be hired. For campers, there are excellent showers (small extra charge) and there is a good campers’ kitchen with tables, sinks and cooking area if you have your own cooker and pans. Gas rings are available (small extra charge). There is also a TV room. Reception is open quite late in the high season and the staff are very helpful. A computer is available for hire and there is a freezer in reception. There is a bus stop outside the site for Killarney. There is a 24 hour Tesco which is off the northern bypass (turn right at 4^th roundabout then right at next). Out of high season, it can be better for 2 people to rent a trailer van than to camp separately.