#3 A Sunday Walk: Slieve Maan 547.8m 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.

Slieve Maan 547.8m

I need to be up front about this one. It's miserable. Nothing to see. Wet under foot. You'll wonder why you bothered. One word of advice: wellies. Yes. Seriously.

At 547.8m,  Slieve Maan (never ever to be confused with the fine looking and nearby mountain Slievemaan 759m on the way to Lug) 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. This was the last of them... I may have abandoned the whole undertaking had I done this one sooner.

At 2.8 km roundtrip, the walk itself takes a surprising 1 hour, and almost 87m of ascent - you may need a tissue for the high-altitude nosebleeds! At Point B, don't take the direct route up... you'll be coming down that way. Given the utterly savage ascent, the easy route upward is to follow the path to Point C at N 52° 56.035' W 6° 23.245' before turning up. At what appears to be the top of the track, pick your way through the storm felled trees in front of you and you'll find that the path actually continues. After about 85m you'll find a 4-way junction, not currently marked on the maps, but clearly visible on the satellite map (but you won't have signal by then).

If you also want to visit Slieve Maan North Top, now is your moment! You can turn right... I did it... and lived to regret it.

So, probably best to turn left and go straight for the cache.

At the summit area, as your boots sink in to the mud and acid-green moss, you will find two precariously placed rocks that pretend to be a summit marker. The cache is tucked in to the side. Sign it and skedaddle.

You can now either turn around and do it all in reverse, or continue along the ridge path, until you hit the fence and descend to Point B. I suggest staying south (far side) of the fence and crossing at the bottom corner post - it's easier.

Leave No Trace