Northern Ireland is a place of outstanding beauty, culture and is steeped in history. It makes a great destination for mixing travel, adventure and climbing.

The country has been blessed as far as bouldering goes. There is a lot of it and it is very accessible. From seaside boulders that will have you racing the tide to slabby granite in the mountains, you can enjoy a climbing vacation with plenty to do for the rest of your family or non-climbers.

Northern Ireland is made up of many different rock types including granite, dolerite and even climbable shale. Each has its own flavour and skillset; you will find climbs that suit your strengths and others that sandbag you. Due to the size of the country (it only takes three hours to drive the long way across), you can hit more than one area in a day for some epic days of bouldering.

People from around the world travel to Ireland as a holiday destination, but few think of it as a bouldering destination. The quantity and quality of climbing at Fair Head alone is enough to keep you busy for weeks. The easy access and small crowds will keep your mood chilled while the problems and setting will drive you to send hard.

Area Highlights

Fair Head

Located on the North Coast an hour drive from Belfast, Fairhead is the biggest climbing area in Northern Ireland.

With tall cliffs for roped climbing and 500 boulder problems below you can spend a whole trip and barely scratch the surface. From the top of the cliffs, you can see Scotland on a clear day making this one of the more scenic bouldering spots.

The approach is easiest from the Murlough Road parking lot with about a 20-minute trek along the shore to the first problems. You can also approach from above using the Ballycastle descent gully. There is a National Trust parking lot at the top. This makes access to the boulders on the western side a little shorter.

Problems range from Font F3 to the insanely hard F8b+. With so many problems there will be something for everyone.

Make sure you have pads and good spotters as the landings are often rocky and uneven. Some problems are pretty highball so be confident in the grade as big falls have big consequences. 

Bloody Bridge Boulders

With a name like Bloody Bridge Boulders, you may expect to leave some skin or part of yourself behind when climbing here. It was actually named after a massacre that happened in 1641, so you don't have to worry.

The climbing here is on relatively solid shale which is a unique experience as shale is usually quite friable. There are also some interesting granite problems on the Monk Block, a granite boulder shaped by the action of the tides.

There are currently 77 developed problems but there are still routes that haven't been documented yet.

Located an hour south of Belfast, this area is right on the southeast coast. Some of the problems are tidal so check for tide times before you go to maximize your climbing time.

The weather here tends to be mild and the prevailing breeze will dry out the rock quickly after rain or the tide goes out.

The approach is only a few minutes as the car park is right on the coast. Across the road is a campground so you can camp and walk to the climbs too.

Chimney Rock Mountain

Heading inland into the Mourne Mountains, you trade the sea for alpine views and approaches.

The access for Chimney Rock Mountain is at Bloody Bridge so it makes a great combo. The hike is about 2.5 kilometres and all uphill so you won't have to worry about big crowds.

There are only about 20 problems, but they are some of the best granite boulders in Northern Ireland. The grades range from Font F3 to F7a. While there aren't a lot of problems there are enough for a solid afternoon and it will be coupled with some of the best views.  

Slieve Binnian North Top

This is another alpine bouldering area in the Mourne. Slieve Binnion North Top is a rounded grassy summit with about 25 boulder problems. The approach is a bit of hike but gets you high quality rock, cool breezes and epic views.

Due to its location, you are almost guaranteed to have it to yourself. The grades range from Font F4 to F7b. If you explore you will be able to find more boulders that haven't been logged as climbed yet.

The approach is about 2 kilometres, but you will gain quite a bit of altitude. Consider it a good warm-up. Click here to see a map with the trail up to the summit. You can download and save it making finding the location a bit easier.  

Killynether Woods Bouldering

If you are staying in Belfast, you can easily hit this spot for a fun afternoon.

Killynether Wood Bouldering is about 15 minutes west of the city if you need to get out while on vacation. As the name implies, these are a collection of boulders in the woods of a public park. The grades are easy-moderate, with the hardest problem topping out at Font F5+ with a number of easier ones.

This would be a wonderful place for an afternoon of climbing especially if you have kids or newer climbers with you.  

The Yerp Boulder

Near the coast, the Yerp Boulder would be an ideal stop if you are touring around the east coast.

The location is roadside, southeast from Belfast just south of Greyabbey on the peninsula. As it is on the shore it's affected by the tides so be careful to time your trip there. With 24 problems from Font F4 to F7b, you'll have several hours of fun on the hunk of dolerite.

You can also use this as your route down to the Mourne Mountains and enjoy the ferry ride from the tip of the peninsula back to the mainland.

Considerations when bouldering in Northern Ireland

Due to the compact nature of the country, combining bouldering with other adventures is easy, which is useful due to the varying weather. Northern Ireland is green because, as you may expect, it rains a fair bit, but most the rock drys quickly and doesn't suffer from the risk of damage due to moisture. This means you can start climbing as soon as the rock is dry.

Quite a bit of the best climbing has rough landings, so it is highly recommended that you have proper bouldering crash mats. Since bouldering mats are huge and can be expensive to travel with, you can rent one or a few from the Boulder World Belfast Climbing Center. If you are going during a holiday or summer weekend it is recommended to pre-book so you are guaranteed you get one.

Logistics

When should I go?

Prime climbing season is April to November, but due to the relatively mild climate, you can climb any time it's dry.


Which guide should I buy?

Fair Head Bouldering by Rob and Veronica Hunter

This book covers approximately 500 boulder problems in the Fair Head area. Colour photos, topo of the problems and maps to find the boulders all make this the guide to have for bouldering on the North Coast.



Bouldering in Ireland by David Flanagan

For a broader coverage of bouldering in Ireland, including Northern Ireland, David Flanagan’s guidebook does a sterling effort of documenting the bouldering in both countries.

This guide covers 90 areas with over 1700 problems. Colour photos, topos, and maps all make it easy to find your problems. It has a pretty comprehensive guide of Fair Head in addition to the bouldering in the Mourne Mountains.



Handy URLs

UKClimbing

Ukclimbing.com has many of the bouldering areas listed, but can take a bit of digging to separate the bouldering from route climbing. To save you a bit of sleuthing here are a couple of links that will help speed things up:



Getting there

Unless you live in Northern Ireland you will probably fly, which means landing in Belfast. As with almost every airport, car rentals are available on site. Those with a car and coming from Great Britain can also get a ferry in to Belfast. The drive to Fair Head is about an hour which translates into more climbing and less petrol.

There isn't any public transit to the climbing areas so think about carpooling if you are heading there with friends.