Line © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), checked by Global Adventurer.
The walk
From the Trassey car park, walk a few metres along Trassey Road to the gate and follow the Lower Trassey Track south between stone walls and fields. The stony track climbs the open valley of the Trassey River towards a notch in the skyline. Near the top it becomes a rough path over granite slabs and boulders and climbs to the gate and stile in the Mourne Wall at Hare's Gap, between Slieve Bearnagh and Slievenaglogh. Return the same way.
It is 6.9 km there and back with 276 m of ascent; allow about 2½ hours. The grade is Easy: a steady climb on a stony track, rougher and steeper over granite near the gap.
The lower track is recorded as a council public footpath, but most of the land around it is private farmland and sheep-grazed hill, where walkers go by the landowners' tolerance. Keep to the track, leave gates as you find them and keep dogs on leads. Wear good boots. Small streams cross the track and rise after heavy rain, and the gap is often in mist.
The council car park is free but small. If it is full, Meelmore Lodge, about 600 m south-west, charges £4 a day. The Mourne Rambler bus stops on Trassey Road only in July and August.
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.
Good to know
- The Trassey Track is an old stony cart track up the valley of the Trassey River on the north side of the Mournes.
- Hare's Gap is a notch in the northern ridge between Slieve Bearnagh and Slievenaglogh, where the Mourne Wall crosses with a gate and stile.
- Smugglers once carried goods from the coast to Hilltown through the gap on the route now called the Brandy Pad.
- From the gap you look south over the high Mournes, with Slieve Bearnagh's granite tors to the west.
Getting there
Start: Trassey car park · Free parking. 54.21500, -5.99062
Directions to the start
Places to stay nearby
Rooms in and around Newry: Booking.com → Expedia → Hotels.com →
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Paths change, and the weather decides the day. The line and figures come from OpenStreetMap and our own checks; take a map, check the forecast, and turn back if it isn't right.
