Donard and Commedagh avoiding the crowds

This route avoids the popular tourist trail track which goes up by the Glen River to the Saddle between Donard and Commedagh. Apart from the second half of the climb up to Donard it's mostly on small but recognisable paths. There are a couple of slightly tricky sections though, which are explained below.

At the third bridge over the Glen River you leave the usual route to head up to a quarry below Thomas's Mountain (see picture, waypoint 4). The path you need to find is on the right hand side of the quarry. However when we arrived there we found the usual access point was occupied by a small herd of cattle, and so we scrambled up a little rough path beside a broken fence to reach the path. You may be able to get through the gate past the cattle easily though (see picture, waypoint 5, looking back from above).

The cattle were introduced around June 2023, a couple of months before our walk, in order to help with vegetation rejuvenation after the fire in April 2021. It's interesting to read this National Trust press release, and in particular the use of "no fence" technology to maintain the cattle confined to configured areas. (If the National Trust link no longer works you can search for "national trust mournes luing cattle fire" and find several relevant articles).

As we climbed further we came across what I reckon were routers inside fenced-off areas, presumably to provide connectivity to the electronic kit around the necks of the cattle.

As you climb further the path you were following disappears between Millstone and Thomas's Mountains, but hopefully you will then get sight of Donard and be able to choose your way up. There are a couple of boulder fields to negotiate, but nothing difficult. We were walking in thick mist and were relying on following our GPS position on the downloaded map, so if you have good visibility you might be able to find a better route.

Up at the summit of Donard you meet all the people who have ascended the main routes up. You then just follow the wall down to the Saddle, and then up to the little house at the top of Commedagh. From there walk along to the summit cairn, and then take a 45 degree turn left to start your descent to Shan Slieve.

The walk down is easy and very pleasant. At waypoint 11 at a green grassy patch you can either turn left, or continue on - I just prefer the left hand route.

The descent from Slievenamaddy is very slightly tricky, but the easiest way is following the track (as far as I know). Once down from the little summit keep following the track and you'll come across the gap in the fence, close to a wooden stile. From there it's an easy walk down through the trees to the main track near the 3rd bridge over the Glen River.