12 bens route?
| Author | Date | Message |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Coller | Jul 20 2015, 10:36pm | heading west in a couple of weeks, wondering does anyone know any decent routes on the bens in Connemara? I've only done diamond hill before. I've been told about a horseshoe route of benbaun and surrounding hills but I don't have the route. Any suggestions? Thanks |
| Mike Jordan | Jul 21 2015, 10:53am | Hi Stephen I'd recommend picking up the Harveys Connemara map. Much better detail for trails than the OSI sheet 37. You'll need your compass too as there's plenty of areas with no trails. If its a run you're after then probably best to stick to Diamond Hill or some of the hilly sections of the Western Way. That said if you're willing to do more of a hike/scramble up, run down thing then I'd recommend the Glencoaghan Horseshoe. Start near Benlettery Hostel. I prefer to do it anti-clockwise for the fun of running down the scree slopes but clockwise is probably the friendlier direction. Its about 18k but the quickest I've done it is 3 and half hours so not really a run. If you want to take in Benbaun then it can be approached as a horseshoe from the west, north or east with the eastern approach being the more accessible from the R344. Check out http://mountainviews.ie/summit/89/ which has route and summit descriptions and gps tracks. Also if you're in the west there are tons of other options for days in the hills - Maamturks, Mweelrea, Ben Gorm, Sheeffrys and Partrys all within an hour of each other. Hope this is useful and any other questions just shout. Mike |
| Stephen Coller | Jul 21 2015, 12:20pm | thanks Mike, yes looking for a run route, I'll look into that cheers Stephen |
| Maike Jürgens | Jul 21 2015, 12:56pm | Hi Stephen if you are looking for something Connemara rather than 12 Ben specific but more or less runnable you can check out lackavrea as well. it s around the corner from maam cross, has a walkers track along a fence most the way up (and down). takes about 1 h up and down the same way or 1.5 h or so if you do a loop. mountainviews has more detailed descriptions. |
