Caherdaniel Horseshoe, Co. Kerry, may be less popular than its more famous neighbours – but it offers a fine day's walking on three peaks, writes TONY DOHERTY
ENCOMPASSED by the Ring of Kerry are the myriad peaks of the Iveragh Peninsula. While the northern summits of the Macgillycuddy Reeks are justly renowned, the relatively unknown lower mountainscape to the south provides a great variety of first-rate hiking routes. There is the added advantage that when cloud is down on the big tops these lower hills are often clear and sunny.
The Caherdaniel Horseshoe offers a fine day’s walking on three peaks, Eagles Hill (549m), Mullaghbeg (509m) and Cahernageeha (499m). Each offers its own distinctive view of this beautiful region. Access to the uplands is via the Kerry Way, starting across the road from the shop in Caherdaniel village, midway between Waterville and Sneem on the N70.
The route is a clearly defined track, stony in places, grassy in others, that leads gently up to a low col before beginning to contour around the lower slopes of Coad Mountain. After half an hour or so, you will come to a signposted fork. Keep left here on the track to Waterville. As you travel further up the mountainside you leave the hum of the traffic behind, while the outer reaches of the Kenmare River, with its islets and inlets, form a sparkling mosaic below.
You can leave the track a few hundred metres beyond the second ford and cut straight up the grassy slope to the summit of Eagles Hill. It takes you a minute or two to realise what is unusual about this summit. There is neither a stone cairn nor a boot mark to be seen, a situation that is not uncommon in this part of the world. From here you will the entire length of the Beara Peninsula and the peaks of Iveragh stretching away to the north.
The descent to the col is easy. Just follow the fence down a broad grassy slope. When you get to the col, however, you’ll come to a stretch of water- eroded bog, which is tedious to cross. The frustrating thing is that you think you have found the best route only to find yourself up to your shins in wet bog, while your fellow hikers are waiting for you on the far side with smug grins.
From the col, skirt around the cliffs over Coomrooanig Lough and up the boggy slopes of Mullaghbeg, another cairn-less peak, which now finds you perched above Lough Currane, Waterville and Ballinskelligs Bay. From Mullaghbeg head back down the way you came up to pick up the hard-topped bog road that leads most of the way to the summit of Cahernageeha.
From the end of the road there is a gentle pull up to the summit of Cahernageeha where there is an Ordnance Survey trig station marker. From here you have your third great view of the day, down on to the turquoise waters of Derrynane Bay and its magnificent beach.
Your descent can be hard going down the bog road – if the zigs are long, the zags are even longer, and it an endurance test at the end of a tiring day. However, you will recover quickly with a dip in Abbey Island strand. Follow this with a trip to the tearooms in the gardens of Derrynane House. To spend a day on a sun-blasted heath and then find yourself in a lush woodland is a bit surreal.
Start and finishCaherdaniel village.
How to get thereCaherdaniel is on the N70 Ring of Kerry route between Cahersiveen and Kenmare.
TimeEight hours.
Distance20km.
Total Ascent750m.
Map Ordnance Survey Discovery Series.Sheet 83
Suitability Routeis moderate. Compass, map and rain gear are essential.
Food and accommodationNumerous choices in Caherdaniel, Derrynane, Sneem and Waterville.