MacGillycuddy's Reeks

The Reeks run about twenty kilometres east to west in south Kerry and hold every peak in Ireland over a thousand metres, including Carrauntoohil at 1,038. The rock is Devonian sandstone, folded and then carved by ice into a ridge of steep corries, arêtes and hanging valleys - much more alpine in character than anything else in the country. The classic day is the Coomloughra Horseshoe, taking in Caher, Carrauntoohil and Beenkeragh on a narrow connecting ridge; the Hag's Glen approach to the Devil's Ladder is the commonest route to the summit and the most eroded. This is serious mountain ground. The weather changes without warning, cloud sits on the tops most days, there is no phone coverage in the corries, and this is one of the busiest mountain rescue areas in Ireland. Most of the land is privately farmed, and access depends on landowner goodwill.

What you actually see

• Carrauntoohil - 1,038 metres, the highest point in Ireland.
• The ridges - Beenkeragh and the arête, narrow and exposed.
• The corries - Coomloughra and the Hag's Glen, ice-carved.
• The sandstone - folded Devonian rock, more alpine than the rest of Ireland.

When to go

May to September for daylight and settled weather, though conditions change fast in any month. Winter here needs axe, crampons and the skill to use them.

Honest expectations

Genuinely dangerous ground - one of Ireland's busiest mountain rescue areas. The Devil's Ladder is loose and eroded, with rockfall onto people below. No phone coverage in the corries. Land is privately farmed; park where signed and close gates.

Nearby

Killarney National Park is east; the Gap of Dunloe cuts the range's eastern end.