#1 A Sunday Walk: Ballycurragh Hill 536m Traditional Cache

A Sunday Walk

The Sunday Walk series is intended to introduce you to some of Co. Wicklow's lesser hills - not lesser in beauty, history or interest, but certainly lesser in height. Consequently, many walks are only 60-120 mins long, which makes them perfect for A Sunday Walk! While perhaps you may not need your full mountain kit for these walks, proper boots are a must, as well as waterproofs and a map and compass. Chicken sandwiches are optional.

Ballycurragh Hill 536m

At 536m, Ballycurragh Hill is classed as an Arderin (a mountain of of 500m with a prominence of 30m). It first caught my attention as I had finished walking all of Wicklow's higher peaks, and the Arderin list of 46 summits provided some that I had never even heard of.

At 5.6km roundtrip, the walk itself takes about 50 minutes up and about a half hour down, encompassing precisely 300m of ascent. At the summit you will find a  small cairn and , hopefully,  a geocache! The northerly views by the fence corner, notably absent due to cloud when I visited, are very nice by all accounts, with Lugnaquilla occasionally making an appearance from the clouds, if you pick the right day!

Please post your photos, if you are so lucky!

I suggest you take the nicely surfaced 'zigzags route' (A-B-C) upwards (or both directions if it is windy, as the protection of the trees is good) as the lower part of the 'direct route' (C - D) is badly eroded and can be very slippy underfoot. The direct route does give nice views on the return leg.

The Cache

The cache is a simple PET tube secreted at the white boulder just beside the summit cairn. Please place it back beside the edge of the boulder - and not underneath, so it doesn't slip out of reach. You'll need to cross a barbed wire fence at the summit - the corner post seems to be the best spot for this if you're shorter, but if you are 6' tall, you'll manage it near the cairn without assistance.

Leave No Trace