Challenge yourself to climb every mountain summit in the Mourne Mountains range. On this page you will find information about the Mourne Mountains Challenge including its summit list, useful car parking locations, recommendations for guide books and maps, and links to local facilities.
This challenge, along with our 23 other mountain challenges, is part of the All-Ireland Mountain Race which starts on the Spring Equinox and finishes on the Autumn Equinox. The race is managed via our High Point Ireland website and is one of two compulsory sports hillwalking disciplines which count towards the annual All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships.
This challenge, along with our 23 other mountain challenges, is part of the All-Ireland Mountain Race which starts on the Spring Equinox and finishes on the Autumn Equinox. The race is managed via our High Point Ireland website and is one of two compulsory sports hillwalking disciplines which count towards the annual All-Ireland Hillwalking Championships.
The summits
The Mourne Mountains Challenge requires participants to visit 14 summits in the Mourne Mountains range. These are marked on the map along with nearby car parking options. Click on a marker for more details. This challenge is intended only for experienced and well-equipped hillwalkers and mountaineers who can navigate themselves confidently through rugged and exposed terrain in any weather. Route choice is entirely up to the participant, therefore we have not included any route suggestions on the map. Route planning is part of this challenge.
| Summit name | Elevation | Irish Grid Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Slieve Donard | 850m | J:358:277 |
| Slieve Commedagh | 765m | J:346:286 |
| Slieve Binnian | 746m | J:320:234 |
| Slieve Bearnagh | 739m | J:313:280 |
| Slievelamagan | 702m | J:329:260 |
| Slieve Meelbeg | 702m | J:301:279 |
| Slieve Meelmore | 687m | J:306:286 |
| Slieve Binnian North Top | 678m | J:317:245 |
| Slieve Muck | 670m | J:281:250 |
| Chimney Rock Mountain | 656m | J:364:257 |
| Cove Mountain | 655m | J:336:271 |
| Eagle Mountain | 638m | J:244:230 |
| Shanlieve | 627m | J:240:227 |
| Slieve Loughshannagh | 617m | J:294:272 |
Challenge information
As well as being an anytime personal hillwalking challenge, the Mourne Mountains Challenge is an optional part of the annual All-Ireland Mountain Race which starts each year on the Spring Equinox in late March and ends on the Autumn Equinox in late September. Challenges undertaken outside race season cannot be registered. Each participant can only register a completion for this challenge once per year. Registrations for subsequent completions of the same challenge in the same race season will not be accepted even if the participant records a better time.
Challenge times
The following three times apply to this challenge:
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The times quoted above are based on the most direct walking route linking all the required summits. These only apply to walkers who are counting this challenge towards their All-Ireland Mountain Race time. The initial ascent to the first summit and the final descent from the last summit are not included in the quoted times. The Naismith time has been calculated using Naismith's Rule. The minimum time is the Naismith time minus 25%. The default time is the Naismith time plus 25%. Race participants who register completions for this challenge which are faster than the minimum time will have their times rounded up to the minimum time. This is to encourage participants to walk the challenge rather than run it. The All-Ireland Mountain Race is a sports competition designed specifically for walkers.
Instructions
- Install the Peakhunter app on your smartphone and create a profile (you only need to do this once).
- Sign into your Peakhunter account on the smartphone app (if not already signed in).
- Visit all of the required summits in the Mourne Mountains Challenge (listed above). Summits can be visited in any order.
- Log each summit visit using the Peakhunter app while present at the location.
- Register your completed challenge by filling out and submitting the completion form below.
- To become an official entrant in our All-Ireland Mountain Race, you must complete at least 3 different mountain challenges between the Spring Equinox and the Autumn Equinox. Each challenge completion must be registered using its respective challenge completion form no later than 30th September.
- This challenge starts on the first summit to be logged using the Peakhunter app and finishes on the last summit to be logged. Challenge start and finish times are recorded as time stamps in these logs.
- If you plan to register a completion for this challenge, it must start and finish on the same day, preferably during daylight hours. All summit visits must have the same date in their time-stamped Peakhunter log entries. If your challenge starts and finishes on two different dates, consecutive or otherwise, it can not be counted towards the All-Ireland Mountain Race.
- If you do not complete this challenge or register its completion, its respective default time (see above) will be applied to your All-Ireland Mountain Race total time.
- If you register a completion for this challenge and your actual recorded time is more than the challenge's default time (see above), the actual recorded time will be applied to your All-Ireland Mountain Race total time.
- If you register a completion for this challenge and your actual recorded time is less than the challenge's minimum time (see above), the challenge's minimum time will be applied to your All-Ireland Mountain Race total time. This is to encourage participants to walk the challenge rather than run it. This is a walking challenge.
Winner selection
The winner of the All-Ireland Mountain Race will be the individual who records the lowest combined total time for all 24 of our mountain challenges. The winner will receive a Gold award. Second and third placed participants will receive Silver and Bronze awards respectively.
Only participants who register completions for at least 3 of our mountain challenges during the season will be entered into the race. This means that a race entrant can omit up to 21 challenges. For each mountain challenge not completed, its respective default time (see above) will be applied to the participant's overall race time.
Every walking club, county and province in Ireland can be represented in the Race's team categories. Each team's race time will equal the combined total times of its five fasted participants. If a club, county or province team has fewer than five representatives, each empty place will be assigned the total default time of all 24 mountain challenges. The winner in each category will be the team of five (including empty places) who records the lowest combined total time for all 24 mountain challenges.
Disclaimer
This challenge is intended only for experienced and well-equipped hillwalkers and mountaineers who are physically fit and can navigate themselves confidently through rugged and exposed terrain in any weather. If you are planning to undertake this challenge, please be aware that hillwalking and mountaineering are risk activities. The Ireland Walking Guide, High Point Ireland and Donard Media (the websites' publisher) accept no responsibility for any injury, loss or inconvenience sustained by anyone undertaking this challenge. Personal safety is entirely the participant's own responsibility. We will not support any legal action taken against any third-party individual, group or organisation as a result of any injury, loss or inconvenience sustained by anyone undertaking this challenge. We encourage each participant to have adequate insurance to cover any injury, loss or inconvenience that may result from their hillwalking activities.
The inclusion of each summit in this challenge is based entirely on it having been officially classified as a mountain. This classification is reserved exclusively for summits higher than 2,000 feet (see 'What is an Irish mountain?'). Every mountain in Ireland is listed as a Dillon and / or Hewitt. Summits lower than 2,000 feet are not mountains, even if the word 'mountain' appears in their names. It should not be assumed that access is permitted to any of the mountain summits. The Ireland Walking Guide and Donard Media recommend that anyone planning to visit any of the summits as part of this challenge should check for potential access restrictions and to request permission from the relevant landowner(s) in advance.
Completion form
If you are taking part in the All-Ireland Mountain Race and would like to include your Mourne Mountains Challenge time, please register it by filling out and submitting the challenge's completion form to us no later than 30th September. The form can be accessed via the green button below between the day of the Spring Equinox and 30th September. Each participant is only permitted to register one completion of this challenge per race season.
Recommended guide books
Walking guide books are a great way to find the very best walks in Ireland which have been hand-picked by local experts. Recommended guide books for the Mourne Mountains Challenge are listed below. These describe various ascents, descents and inter-summit link routes.
Recommended maps
Ireland is covered by a good selection of quality maps produced by a variety of publishers. The most useful maps for walkers range in scale from 1:25,000 to 1:50,000. For the Mourne Mountains Challenge, the recommended titles are listed below.
- Harvey Superwalker 1:25,000 - Mourne Mountains
- Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland 1:50,000 - Mournes Activity Map
- Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland 1:50,000 Discoverer Series - Sheet 29
Local facilities
If you require accommodation, food and drink, or other local facilities while undertaking the Mourne Mountains Challenge, we recommend you check out what's available in the following nearby destinations.
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