County High Point: Truskmore (9-10/32)
County: Sligo & Leitrim
Height of high point: 647m
Our total elevation for the hike: 595m
Difficulty: Easy - Moderate
If you follow the mast road up to the summit of Truskmore, it is an easy route.
If you follow the route that we describe, it is a moderate hike. The trail up onto the plateau is distinct, however once up onto the main plateau, there is no trail to follow, and involves some bog navigating.
Learn more about trail and hillwalking grading here.Our route distance: 10.25km
Views: Glorious
Time: Our overall time for this hike was 4hrs 30mins, Round trip. Only about 3hrs of that was hiking at a very leisurely pace.
Related video: Truskmore County High Point Hike Video.
Truskmore is the County High Point of Sligo and Leitrim, and is the highest point in the Dartry Mountains. This lovely peak is part of the same plateau range that is home to the more famous mountain, Benbulbin - which will hopefully conjure up the right mental image of cliffs and dramatic sweeping landscapes that this small mountain is nestled within.
Our chosen route for this hike was to start at the Eagle's Rock viewing area car park, and follow the old miners zig-zagging trail up onto the mountain plateau. From there, we followed the stone wall towards the towering mast station that sits atop Truskmore itself.
Please Note: this area (the Glenade valley) has had on-going access issues. At the time of hiking, to the best of our knowledge access to Truskmore via this route was accessible. This may not always be the case, and it’s important to check beforehand. There is currently no recognised access route to the dramatic free-standing rock pillar, Timpaun Mór, pictured below.
Leaving the car park and info boards, the route immediately starts climbing, the road undulating as we make it up and around the corner, into the sheep fields. We follow the wide track through the rolling short-chopped grass, until we’re at the base of the major climb up onto the plateau. It’s mid afternoon, but it’s also approaching the end of October, and daylight is already slipping away.
We’ve already gained about 100m just getting to the bottom of the zig-zags, and the view back is beautiful - the lake we’d driven past up the valley shining in the sun, and the erratic edges of the hills casting striking shadows. We meet a older man descending, him finishing off his afternoon of bird-spotting in the bogland above us.
Reaching the top we’re slightly out breath, the climb having been steep, but also ending slightly earlier than we expected. From here, we headed west / south-west to hit the county boundary, an old stone dry wall running between Tievebaun and Truskmore.
There’s no distinct trail for this section across the boggy plateau. We were lucky as we crossed - the ground dry enough that the bog was simple to navigate, and the wind blowing strong enough that there was no lingering clouds or fog to slow us down. Of course, the downside of such a strong breeze is that it frowns upon stopping, chilling any exposed, stationary skin.
The second climb of the hike is up from the plateau area onto Truskmore itself - here we slightly split up, as we thought different sheep tracks looked more promising. While Carl technically got to the top of this climb quicker, I did stop to film him and the beautiful views, so I can say I wasn’t actually racing. There’s never any real competition between us when hiking, but these kinds of moments are perfect for the wagering of future coffees and preferred snacking options.
It was as we reached the top of Truskmore proper, that stronger clouds than our gusting wind started to draw in. On top of the peak is a large mast station (like several other county high points so far). Huge steel cables lashed this towering mast to the ground, the whole structure giving off a sense of space travel and remote worlds. Fog streaked past as we found our trig point and settled in with our celebratory rice crispy buns - every summit must have it’s treat.
We didn’t get any views from the top, the clouds deciding to hunker down around this particular hill for the evening. As we descended again, all we could see of the summit was the mast looming out from the white billowing walls below it - looking even more astronomical than before, a kind of man-made eerie allure.
Our next quest was to find the south east cairn, which was the technical high point of Leitrim (although with most shared high points, we just count the summit as the summit of both). We cautiously ventured out from the mast station, worried we would miss it after reading others’ posts online about not finding it. We stopped at any vague pile of stones to check how far we had gone. It became apparent that we need not have been quite so fastidious - the cairn itself turned out to be sizeable enough, and once it appeared on our horizon we knew we had found the one we were looking for. The south-east Cairn had really breath-taking views back towards the dartry hills around sligo. These clusters of hills always remind me of sections of scrunched up carpet; small in height, but with fascinating shapes to these lines across the landscape.
On our return trip we wandered more, finding the cliff edges here and there for spectacular views out into he surrounding valleys. Apart from our friendly birder on our first climb, we saw and encountered no-one, having a golden sunset that stretched into marvellous pinks and frosty blue light, all to ourselves.
Making it back to the zig-zags just as the light truly started to fade, we pulled on the head torches as we followed the track back down to the car.
Summary:
The dartry’s are some of Ireland’s most unique hills, and even if you’re not a fan of man-made items on summits, it is an area well worth visiting and exploring.
The difficulty rating for this route is “hard” as there is no obvious trail, route or path to the summit. If you have experience hiking in the Irish hills, this should be quite a pleasant hike.
Beware of the numerous cliff edges around, as well as any ice that could fall off of the mast / mast guides in wintery conditions.
Other route options:
There is an access road to the summit of Truskmore for the mast station. It is an easier route in terms of navigation and solid ground, and I’ve heard that the views from it are quite beautiful.
I’ve also heard it’s possible to approach from Glencar Waterfall which is the valley directly south of the summit. As I haven’t gone that route (yet) I can’t offer any more advice than letting you know others have done it! Please research before you head out.
If you want a full overview of the County High Point’s project, click here.
To learn more about trail and hillwalking grading, click here.