In my opinion, the best option for climbing Errigal is to complete this lovely 8km looped walk via Mackoght Mountain. Taking in the additional Mackoght summit really adds to the more commonly taken out and back route from the carpark at the base of the mountain.
The straight up and down option takes about 2 hours. You simply follow the path from the carpark the whole way to the top. Straightforward to navigate but still requires a good level of fitness and concentration for the many uneven stone steps along the way.
Climbing Errigal via the Mackoght Loop
I planned to drive up to Donegal, climb the mountain and then return to Dublin on the same day. Given I would be spending 3.5-4 hours each way in the car, I wanted to make the most of my time in the north west. Plus the Mackoght Loop route is a much nicer walk. So decision made.
Climbing Errigal via Mackoght Details
Distance: 8.25km
Time Required: It took us just under 4 hours which included stopping for a nice cup of tea at the top.
Elevation Gain: 684m
Difficulty Level: Difficult due to the significant elevation gain over the course of the 8.25km. The steps on the climb up to Errigal are not uniform so you will need to give a bit of care and attention as you move upwards.
Starting Point for Climbing Errigal
I had arranged to meet my cousin David and uncle Dema at the Errigal Mountain Hike car park. They were travelling together from Westmeath while I was coming from Dublin.
In my most recent blog post about the Belfast Marathon Route, I mentioned I had an annoying habit of being early for everything. Well I broke that habit spectacularly by being over 30 minutes late meeting up with David and Dema! I hadn’t factored in needing to stop for coffee and toilet breaks as well as meeting a good bit of school traffic along the way. Luckily for me, my 2 hiking companions brushed away my apologies and never mentioned me being late for the remainder of the day together.
Options for Getting There
Unfortunately, there aren’t many alternatives apart from driving to the trail head. The 271 Local Link Bus between Letterkenny and Burtonport does however pass by the starting point. You would need to ask the bus driver to let you off at the car park though as it is not a scheduled stop. My advice would be to confirm this is ok with the driver at the start of the journey.
Trail Map for Climbing Errigal via Mackoght
See below image of the map of the 8.25km route we took climbing Errigal. The map is from alltrails.com.
Off We Go
David and Dema were itching to go having been waiting around the park for so long. I quickly put on my boots and jacket and away we went. We ignored the path leading straight up the imposing Mount Errigal and instead exited the car park and took a left turn along the R251.
Just over a kilometre of road walking brought us to our first turning point. We turned left and on to a visible path through the surrounding brown and yellow terrain. A sign advised us we were entering Altan Farm and reminded walkers to keep dogs on a lead at all times.
Along the Altan Farm Track
We followed the track northwards for about 600m. As we walked, the two summits could plainly be seen. Mackoght paled in significance to its spectacular looking neighbour.
Then we took a left turn for a couple of hundred metres before turning right again – we had walked about 2km at this stage. The trail proved easy enough to follow. We headed north east for another couple hundred metres before swinging around to the left and followed the path in a westerly direction towards the summit of Mackoght.
Each step upwards seemed like an opportunity to turn around and take in the amazing views of the Glenveagh region.
Getting to the Top of Mackoght
We moved steadily uphill and the approach to the top of Mackoght became quite steep in places. The underfoot conditions became more rocky and stoney.
We picked our way through and reached the summit after 3.5km of walking. Standing at 555m, our reward for getting to the top were some spectacular views out over Lough Altan with the Atlantic Ocean visible in the distance.
Down into the Valley
After admiring the views, we headed south west. This time, downhill and into the valley between Mackoght and Errigal. The sheer slopes of Errigal loomed ominously ahead of us.
At this point, we started to notice the clouds coming in over the top of Errigal. We began to realise we probably should have done the loop in the other direction to get the most of the views before Errigal became shrouded in mist and clouds. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about that now though.
We followed a helpful stone arrow pointing us in the right direction when we came to a split in the path.
After that, we found the trail once again easy enough to follow. The worn path leading directly to the top of Errigal soon became visible and we made our way towards it.
The Path for Climbing Errigal
We reached the man-made path after just over 4km of walking. This easily navigable track is mostly of gravel at first. As the gradient increased, we needed to climb more and more stone steps.
The trail became much busier from here on. We had only met one woman and a dog going up and down Mackoght. Now, we regularly needed to step aside and let others past. Everyone seemed in great form and all cheerily said hello or stopped for a quick chat with us.
As we moved higher and higher, the views just kept getting better and better. However, the views soon became obscured by the cloud cover as we neared the summit.
The narrow ridge walking still proved enjoyable even if we couldn’t see too much around us. We reached the peak of Errigal (751m) after 5.6km.
A slightly lower twin summit could be seen just along another section of ridge walking.
Lunch Break After Climbing Errigal
While windy at the top, we were able to find a calmer spot near the summit and stopped for tea and a packed lunch. While I felt disappointed we couldn’t take in the views, the sense of peace and calmness up there made up for it a bit.
Retracing our Steps
Getting back down after climbing Errigal proved easy enough. We simply retraced our steps. We needed to be careful in places going down along the the stone steps.
After just under 7km, we reached the point while we joined the direct path to Errigal. From there we this time continued along the newly laid path which ran alongside a little stream and back to our cars in the Errigal Mountain Hike Car Park.
Conclusions on Climbing Errigal
We completed the 8.25km Errigal via Mackoght Loop in just under 4 hours.
I felt some regrets about 1) arriving late and 2) not completing the loop in the other direction. If I had done these things, I really think we would have got to see the spectacular views from Errigal.
I had to made do with what was still a really fantastic walk with great company along the way. Not too bad I suppose!