Region
Most climbed route
Highlights
- At just 3,406 feet, this peak, the highest in Ireland, seems much grander than its elevation.
- Steep sided and rugged, Carrauntoohil and the rest of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks have a unique beauty -- rocky and grassy with lots of sheep.
- The MacGillycuddy's Reeks Ridge Traverse is a great challenge; hitting all 11 3,000+ ft peaks in one day is a famous achievement.
Routes
2 climbs • 13.5 km • 792 m gain • 5 hr 1 min
1 climb • 12.6 km • 1,028 m gain • 5 hr 40 min
1 climb • 13.0 km • 895 m gain • 6 hr 17 min
1 climb • 13.9 km • 976 m gain • 2 hr 50 min
1 climb • 14.4 km • 687 m gain • 5 hr 38 min
1 climb • 14.6 km • 1,509 m gain • 6 hr 18 min
1 climb • 15.0 km • 961 m gain • 7 hr 25 min
1 climb • 15.1 km • 825 m gain • 6 hr 20 min
1 climb • 15.4 km • 696 m gain • 8 hr 28 min
1 climb • 16.3 km • 1,095 m gain • 9 hr 11 min
1 climb • 16.6 km • 1,268 m gain • 7 hr 37 min
1 climb • 19.5 km • 1,278 m gain • 11 hr 9 min
1 climb • 23.9 km • 1,610 m gain • 10 hr 1 min
1 climb • 15.1 km • 1,250 m gain • 8 hr 5 min
1 climb • 20.1 km • 1,585 m gain • 8 hr 16 min
Latest climbs
"I hiked Carrauntohill and cnoc na Toinne today with the legend Pat Falvey who has done Carrauntohill over 3000 times and Natalie first time up there
My 14th hike up Carrauntohill now
It was an honour to summit Carrauntohill with Pat Falvey " — Tom/Guardian • Jan 4, 2026
"Went to the reeks range today
I did the southern range of the 900ers and carrauntohill but came up short to do beenkeragh and Caher
I’ll be back again
My 12th time on carrauntohill " — Tom/Guardian • Dec 21, 2025
"30.4.25 was the day, and a day it was! 10/10 weather, clear sky and warm. Started early and reached the Carrauntoohil's summit via the Devil's Ladder around 10:30 - I was the only one there, can you imagine? Afterwards I turned south to Caher, descended this range and stepped up to the next range from Cnoc Iochtair to Beenkeragh. The most fun part was the Devil's Ladder, climbing the narrow ridge from Beenkeragh in direction of Carauntoohil for the descent and the descent itself were very demanding, don't overestimate yourself <3" — markorothe • Apr 30, 2025
"Myself and group of friends decided to climb the biggest mountain in Ireland . With an orange weather warning in place it was advised not to hike that day (Kerry Search & Rescue) but we did . The conditions were atrocious Rain , High winds , Hail . We made our way to the devil's Ladder & It was tough nut was only the beginning of a great Battle to the summit . Would definitely do it again , Just make sure to have hiking boots & plenty of water . " — Mark-Mountain-Sheehan • Aug 23, 2021
"It was the first of the three major peaks we were hitting up in the UK. As in typical Irish fashion, we had rain. However, the wind and cold is what really made us almost call it. The bogs are muddy and got our feet wet. Waterproof boots and poncho's would come in handy. Poles are extremely helpful through the bog. We took the Carrauntoohil Loop, coming down the Devil's Ladder, which was fun! I'd hate to go up that way, mostly because I'm short. It was foggy at the top, so we didn't get much in the way of a view. None the less, it's still a beautiful hike and lots of fun. We downloaded a gpx and had gps up, especially at the top where the trail was nonexistent and it was hard to see.
First time I've ever seen pink and blue sheep :)" — colleenmarie512 • Sep 2, 2019
"This was one of the times I climbed Carrauntoohil. This time I did it with my hiking club on a beautiful and warm day in July. We ascended via O'Shea's gully and came down via the Heavenly Gate. The route was 13 km with 1150 metres of ascent. " — hannahaapio • Jul 13, 2019
"Solo climb of Carrauntoohil via the Coomloughra Horseshoe. The climb took 5.5 hours car to car (4:30am - 10am). A small bit of rain early in the climb but mostly clear views of the route early on. Spent about 20 minutes on the summit trying to find the descent route towards Caher due to heavy fog. Good thing I had a compass with me and some directional notes!
" — MichaelDyck • Jun 21, 2017
"What an honour it was to hike with Pat Falvey
One of the best Mountaineers Irelands ever had
A great hike through the hydro pass for the first time and we speed ran as a group up the mountain
My second time up Carrauntohill " — Tom/Guardian • Apr 2, 2016
"Pretty nice day except the last bit to the summit. We stayed at the top long enough to catch a few glimpses of sun and blue skies though. Devils ladder was a fun little scramble. " — scottheaney • Sep 5, 2015
"Fantastic Weather the whole holiday and especially on this day, so lucky.
Unfortunately, when we were at the peak it was covered in cloud, but after it cleared up so at least we had a good view of the mountain on the descent.
Tried to make our descent via the Zig Zags, but the Mrs couldn't get across the ridge (fear), so we had to go down the Devils ladder again." — Rich-MUC • Jun 29, 2014
Photos
Awards
Challenges
About peakery awards
Log climbs on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.