Mount Brandon (Cnoc Bréanainn) by the pilgrim path from Ballybrack

From the car park at Ballybrack (An Baile Breac), where the waymarked Cosán na Naomh (the Saints' Road) ends, cross the bridge by the grotto and follow the short white posts east up the open hillside. The path climbs past the stone crosses of the Stations and over the broad western shoulder to the summit of Mount Brandon (Cnoc Bréanainn), with its cairn, ruined oratory and cross. Return the same way. We start here, not at Faha in the east, because the Faha route has a short scramble on its headwall.

It is 7.8 km there and back with 747 m of ascent; allow about 5 hours. The grade is Moderate: a steady climb on an eroded path, rocky on the upper slopes.

The managed pilgrim path ends at the car park: above it you cross private hill land by the landowners' goodwill, at your own risk. Keep to the path and leave gates as you find them. Dogs are banned on Cosán na Naomh, and a sign at the start reportedly bans them on the mountain too. Mist comes in fast and cliffs drop just east of the summit: carry a map and compass, and turn back if you cannot see. Expect snow and ice in winter.

The car park is free. There is no bus; the nearest is Bus Éireann's Tralee to Dingle route 275.

Route drawn by Global Adventurer along OpenStreetMap paths (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with figures worked out from it. Check the forecast and the ground on the day: paths change.