Carrauntoohil

Carrauntoohil, in Irish Corrán Tuathail, is the highest mountain in Ireland at 1,038.6 m, the high point of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks and the great objective of Irish hillwalking. Its two nearest neighbours, Beenkeragh and Caher, are the second and third highest mountains in the country, so the three tallest summits in Ireland stand within a couple of kilometres of one another. The Reeks are Old Red Sandstone, cut into corries, lakes and knife-edged ridges by Ice Age glaciers; in Irish the range is Na Cruacha Dubha, the black stacks.

You will not see the summit from the Ring of Kerry road. The mountain sits inland, south of the Killarney to Killorglin road, reached down narrow lanes towards Beaufort. Mapping apps often give its address as Coomcallee, which is the anglicised Com Caillí, the hag's hollow: the deep valley on its eastern side that everybody locally calls the Hag's Glen.

Climbing it is a full day out, not a stop on a drive. There is no road to the top, no cable car and no easy line up. None of the walking routes need a rope, but Kerry Mountain Rescue describe Carrauntoohil as a challenging mountain compared with many Irish summits, and the team is called to it more often than anywhere else in the county. Allow six hours for the round trip, expect steep and loose ground, and treat the navigation off the summit as the hard part rather than the climb. Our guide to climbing Carrauntoohil covers every route in detail, with times, parking and the descent that catches people out.

If the summit is not for you, the mountain is still worth the drive. The walk into the Hag's Glen from Cronin's Yard is a couple of largely level hours on a well-made track, with the Reeks closing in around you and two dark lakes at the head of the valley, and there is a marked looped walk from the yard. Cronin's Yard has a tea room, toilets and hot showers; there are further car parks at Lisleibane and at Breanlee on the Glencar side. Parking is a couple of euro, or an honesty box.

Every step of every route is private, working farmland, walked by the goodwill of the landowners and managed through the MacGillycuddy Reeks Mountain Access Forum. Dogs are not permitted anywhere in the Reeks. Check a mountain forecast rather than a town one before committing to anything above the glen, and in an emergency dial 112 or 999 and ask for Mountain Rescue.