A walk to the rocky summit of Doan in the heart of the Mourne Mountains. #AprilFavouriteWalk.
#AprilFavouriteWalk
The #AprilFavouriteWalk theme is one of twelve different month-long participation initiatives promoted by The Ireland Walking Guide website (the first-stop information resource for walking in Ireland).
Choosing a favourite walking route for this initiative is not an easy task. There really are so many great walks in Ireland. I have my own personal favourite walks for various categories, geographical regions, route lengths and difficulty levels.
On this occasion, I chose to revisit my favourite short hillwalk in the Mourne Mountains – Doan from Ott car park.
Map of the route:
Saturday 6th April 2019
From Belfast, Ott car park is less than a one-hour drive away via Carryduff, Ballynahinch, Clough, Dundrum, Maghera and Bryansford.
At 385m above sea level, Ott car park is the second highest in the Mourne Mountains. The highest, which is about 10m higher, is located 1km to the south along the same road. Interestingly, the road between these two car parks is the highest stretch of public road in the Mourne Mountains and in the whole of Northern Ireland (max. elevation 405m).
I arrived at Ott car park around 11 a.m. to find a few cars already parked along the verge either side of its entrance. Assuming the car park was full, I drove slowly past to check for spaces before going in. I spotted a gap between two cars, so reversed back to claim it.
From the opposite side of the road a stony track leads into the mountains, almost all the way to the impressive 19.5-mile-long Mourne Wall. Along the track, the furthest views are to the north, down the valley and beyond Fofanny reservoir. Up ahead, the peaks of Slieve Meelbeg and Slieve Loughshannagh dominate the skyline. The day I was there, some traces of snow still remained on their upper slopes.
The track runs out a few hundred metres before the wall and the final approach to it follows a worn path through peat hags. Beyond the wall, the higher Mournes suddenly appear in all their glory. All six of the 700m+ peaks in the range come into view, but it is the 593m high granite-crowned Doan that catches the eye.
A worn path contours northwards around the base of Slieve Loughshannagh. With Doan now on the right, a side path towards it initially passes through peat hags. Then it is a gradual climb all the way along a well-defined path past a false summit. The final approach to the actual summit can be tricky, but is best tackled from its right hand side (south).
Once at the top, the views are probably the best in the Mournes. I like to stop on Doan for lunch while enjoying the view over Silent Valley. A chilling wind while I was there forced me to find a more sheltered vantage point among the rocks. I stayed there for about half an hour before returning by the same route back to the car.
Photos from the route:
360 degree summit views:
Facts and figures:
- The summit of Doan has an elevation of 593m.
- Doan’s key col lies just 800m to the north-northwest of its summit. Immediately beyond the col, the ground rises steeply to the neighbouring 620m high summit of Slieve Loughshannagh. There are no other summits in between. The col has an elevation of approximately 475m, giving Doan a topographical prominence of about 118m.
- Doan is almost completely surrounded by higher peaks. The closest of these is Slieve Loughshannagh 1.3km to the north-northwest. Doan summit’s closest point of equal elevation lies on the upper south-southeast slopes of Slieve Loughshannagh giving Doan a topographical isolation of 1.2km.
- The Mourne Wall is a dry-stone wall defining the catchment area of the Silent Valley reservoirs and part of the Annalong Valley (connected to Silent Valley by the Binnian Tunnel). The Mourne Wall is 31.4km (19.5 miles) long and took 18 years (1904-1922) to construct.
- Most sources incorrectly state that the Mourne Wall is 35 km (22 miles) long – this mistake is most likely to have arisen from Mourne Wall Walk descriptions which included approach and exit routes in their overall length.
- View an online map of the Mourne Wall.
Useful links:
Useful maps:
- OSNI 1:25k Mournes Activity Map
- Harvey 1:25k Superwalker Mourne Mountains
- OSNI 1:50k Discoverer Series Sheet 29
Useful guidebooks:
The route by which I approached Doan doesn’t currently appear in any walking guide books. However, Doan does feature as the highest point on a longer circuit described by Adrian Hendroff in his book The Mourne and Cooley Mountains: A Walking Guide.
A good selection of walking routes throughout the Mourne Mountains range can also be found in the following recommended guide books:
Kieron Gribbon 