Read Iain Miller’s article describing the beautiful, remote and unspoilt rock climbing that is found in in Donegal. Read more…
Rock Climbing in Donegal
Situated in northwest Ireland, Donegal provides a huge variety of rock climbing. The map below shows the location of the main crags in Donegal that provide many single and multi-pitch routes by the sea, by the road, on the islands and in the mountains.
Map of the rock climbing areas in Donegal
The information in the table has been extracted from the Rock Climbing in Donegal guidebook that describes the best 1,000 routes in Donegal and is available to buy from our shop.
Rock climbing crags in Donegal
No
Crag
Type of Rock
Grade Range
No of Routes in Guidebook
Single or Multi-Pitch
1
Muckross Head
Sandstone
D to E7
56
Single
2
Sail Rock
Quartzite
VS to E6
4
Multi
3
Malin Beg
Quartzite
D to E4
57
Both
4
Skelpoonagh
Quartzite
D to E2
26
Both
5
An Port
Quartzite
M to XS
45
Both
6
Crohy Head South
Quartzite
VD to E2
14
Single
7
Arranmore Island
Granite and Quartzite
D to XS
4
Both
8
Cruit Island
Granite
D to E4
134
Both
9
Owey Island
Granite
VD to E6
96
Both
10
Gola Island
Granite
D to E5
146
Single
11
Umfin Island
Granite
VD to E4
15
Single
12
Tor na Dumhcha
Granite
S to HVS
9
Single
13
Tory Island
Granite
D to E1
16
Both
14
Lough Delshade
Granite
VD to E3
30
Both
15
Eglish Valley
Granite
VD to E3
70
Both
16
Bingorms
Granite
S to E4
23
Both
17
Poisoned Glen
Granite
VD to E4
37
Both
18
Muckish
Quartzite
S to E4
13
Single
19
Crockanaffrin
Quartzite
HS to E4
22
Single
20
Malin Head
Quartzite, Gneiss, and Granite
VD to VS
10
Both
21
Bunagee Coast
Quartzite, Gneiss, and Granite
VD to E5
34
Single
22
Dunmore Head
Quartzite, Gneiss, and Granite
D to E4
36
Single
23
Warm Bay Point
Quartzite, Gneiss, and Granite
VD to E2
14
Single
24
Dungloon (Kinnego)
Quartzite, Gneiss, and Granite
VD to E5
44
Both
25
Port A Doris
Quartzite, Gneiss, and Granite
D to HVS
14
Single
The rock climbing at Donegal is famous for its sea cliff climbing and includes around 100 sea stacks, and adventurous climbing on islands such as Gola, Cruit, Owey, Umfin, and Troy.
Gola Island is the epicentre of the Donegal climbing scene in a, remote, idyllic, and beautiful setting. Here there are well over 200 single pitch routes from Diff to E5 on granite sea cliffs and inland outcrops scattered throughout the island. Cruit Island provides over 300 single pitch routes on its many immaculate granite sea cliffs. These routes are less than 5 minutes’ walk from the car and are mostly in the VDiff to HVS grade range. Owey Island is only accessible by a short passenger ferry crossing from Cruit Island. Many of the routes require a slightly more adventurous approach as many have only been climbed a few times. All of these islands provide outstanding rock climbing in a wild, remote and truly beautiful setting. They also sit far out in County Donegal's rain shadow and it is not unusual to be climbing on these islands in bright sunshine and blue skies whilst the rest of the county is under a deluge of heavy rain.
Further south along the coast is the beautiful bay of An Port. Situated at the end of a 20km singletrack road is one of the most remote and unspoilt locations in Ireland. This adventurous climbing is home to 30 of the most outrageous sea stacks and very remote sea cliffs up to 200m high on quartzite rock.
The mountains of Donegal stretch across the entire county and provide an enormous amount of climbing. The two of the largest ranges are in the centre of the county and comprise of solid weathered mountain granite. The rest of the Donegal Mountains are quartzite and are at a slightly lower altitude and closer to the sea and its prevailing south west trade winds. The Poisoned Glen is one of the original climbing venues in Ireland with routes dating back to the 1950's and 1960's. The glen also plays host to Ireland largest continual rock face, The Bearnas Buttress, with routes up to 240m long. Most of the faces in the glen face North to North West and as such get very little sunlight that means a prolonged dry spell is required to catch the main faces in a dry climbable condition.