Interlocking basalt columns at the Giant’s Causeway stepping down into churning Atlantic surf along the Antrim coast

Regional library

Northern Ireland Library

Explore Northern Ireland’s published walking routes, film locations and aviation history, alongside guides to its hill lists, mountain names and wildlife.

20guides currently selected7library sections

Hiking Route Guides

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Route Guide1 GPX download

Slieve Binnian via Carrick Little and the Mourne Wall

The standard out-and-back from Carrick Little via Annalong Valley and the Mourne Wall to Slieve Binnian.

23 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Slieve Commedagh via Glen River

A demanding out-and-back from Donard Park via Glen River and the Mourne Wall to Slieve Commedagh.

22 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Slieve Bearnagh via Trassey Track and Hare's Gap

A popular out-and-back via Trassey Track and Hare's Gap to Slieve Bearnagh's steep granite summit.

20 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Cuilcagh Boardwalk to the Viewing Platform: Route Guide

Follow Cuilcagh’s Stairway to Heaven from Legnabrocky, continuing beyond the boardwalk viewpoint to the true summit.

17 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Cave Hill from Belfast Castle: Route Guide

Walk from Belfast Castle to McArt’s Fort on Cave Hill, passing woodland, caves and dramatic basalt cliffs above the city.

13 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Slieve Donard via the Glen River

Climb from Donard Park to Northern Ireland’s 850 m high point on this 9.4 km out-and-back GPX via the Glen River and Mourne Wall. It gains 840 m and has a 3h 17m estimate, with current advice for restored paths, steep granite and summit navigation.

06 Aug 2026Read Guide
Route Guide1 GPX download

Slieve Binnian from Carrick Little

A steep, strenuous 7.3 km out-and-back from Carrick Little to Slieve Binnian's granite summit tors, climbing 576 m beside the Mourne Wall.

06 Aug 2026Read Guide

Hill Lists and People

Guide

Vandeleur-Lynams and the 15-metre line between an Irish summit and a subsidiary top

The Vandeleur-Lynam list uses a 15-metre prominence threshold, low enough that it includes subsidiary tops alongside independent mountains. As at 31 December 2023 it contained 275 locations above 600 metres: 209 mountain summits, 14 hill summits just short of 2,000 feet, and 52 subsidiary tops with less than 30 metres of prominence.

03 Nov 2026Read
Guide

The Dodds: When Three Regional Lists Became One Metric Classification

Between 500 and 600 metres sits a collection of hills that used to be split across Deweys, Donald Deweys and Highland Fives—until the idea emerged in 2014 to unify them under a single name that works across Britain.

02 Nov 2026Read
Guide

Simms: the hill category that tidied up the lists

If you've ever wondered why British hill lists seem unnecessarily complicated, Simms offer a rare moment of clarity. Introduced by Alan Dawson in 2010, a Simm is any summit over 600 metres with at least 30 metres of drop all round – a definition that consolidated several older, overlapping lists like Murdos, Corbett Tops, Graham Tops and Hewitts into something more coherent.

28 Sept 2026Read
Guide

Marilyns: Why a 150-Metre Drop is the Real Test of a Hill

Think altitude is everything? See why a 150-metre drop identifies Britain’s 1,550 Marilyns, and how the list changed in 2025.

24 Aug 2026Read
Guide

The Hewitts: A Study in Prominence and Persistence

A classification that ignores the "pretty" peaks to focus on the physical effort and distinct logic of the high ground.

24 Aug 2026Read
Guide

The HuMPs: The Geography of Independence

Forget the highest peaks and look at the hills that stand on their own—this is the fascinating, mathematical world of the HuMPs.

24 Aug 2026Read

Aircraft History

1 guide

Guide

When a Sunderland Fell From the Sky Over Lough Erne

On 18 November 1943, a Short Sunderland flying boat was making routine practice runs on Lough Erne in County Fermanagh. These vast, imposing aircraft—four-engine maritime patrol bombers designed for the Battle of the Atlantic—had become a familiar sight over the lake.

21 Sept 2026Read

Film Locations

1 guide

Guide

Where Northern Ireland Became Westeros

Forests became the Haunted Forest, mountains rose beyond Winterfell and quiet harbours were transformed into the Iron Islands. Explore the Northern Irish landscapes that gave *Game of Thrones* much of its wild and wonderfully unforgiving world.

29 Aug 2026Read

Landscape and Place Names

2 guides

Guide

Slieve, Sliabh, and Sleeve: When One Mountain Word Has Three Spellings

Slieve means 'mountain' in Irish, but centuries of Anglicisation turned sliabh into slieve, sleeve, and occasionally slee, depending on which mapmaker showed up first. The pronunciation stayed the same—the spelling just gave up.

10 Oct 2026Read
Guide

What Volcanoes Left Behind in Britain

Extinct volcanoes left lava flows, ash deposits, intrusions and collapsed calderas across parts of Britain. Their resistant volcanic rocks now form familiar crags, ridges and mountain landscapes.

08 Sept 2026Read

Wildlife and Working Landscapes

1 guide

Guide

How to Spot a Hen Harrier (and Why You Should Stay on the Path)

The pale grey 'ghost of the moor' hunts methodically across upland heather—when you can find one. Here's how to identify Britain's rarest raptor without disturbing its precarious existence.

01 Nov 2026Read

Access and Mountain Safety

2 guides

Guide

Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace is a set of outdoor ethics designed to minimise human impact on wild places — plan ahead, stay on trail, pack out rubbish, leave what you find, minimise campfire impact, respect wildlife, and be considerate of others. It originated in American wilderness but translates unevenly to Britain's managed countryside.

25 Jul 2026Read
Guide

The High Cost of Free Help

A look at how a world-class emergency service is run by unpaid professionals on grit, donations, and a lot of goodwill.

04 Aug 2026Read

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