Divis and the Black Mountain summit trail
The Summit Trail takes you along the Tipperary Road through open heath and blanket bog following a way marked trail to the highest peak in the Belfast Hills, Divis Mountain. Overlooking the city below and with magnificent views of Lough Neagh, the Mourne Mountains and Strangford Lough there is no better vantage point to take in the magnificent scenery that Northern Ireland has to offer.
Map
Start:
Divis Barn, OSNI grid ref: J272744
1
From the starting point at the barn, pass the pond on your right and on through the kissing gate taking the marked route to your left for the Summit Trail. You are now on the Tipperary Road named after the time when the mountain was a training ground and fully kitted squaddies marched the long road.
2
As the road forks take the marked turn right heading for the summit. Take time to admire the views from the viewing point and the highlighted places of interest in the distance towards the town of Antrim. Retrace your steps 10 metres to the start of the steep accent to Divis Mountain.
3
This part of the trail is lined with boulders to assist with water displacement and prevents the trail from being washed downhill. You are taken contoured upwards and Slemish Mountain is the dark rising volcanic plugs visible in the distance. Continue until you reach the trigonometry pillar that marks the summit of Divis Mountain at 475m/1562ft.
4
The decent is via the tarmac roadway to the left of the mast downwards, taking in the view over Belfast Lough from Whitehead on the left through to Holywood on the right, with the Copeland Islands just off the point. The Titanic Quarter and what remains of the historical Belfast shipping industry is marked by the yellow Samson and Goliath cranes of the shipyard, above which sits Stormont in the Castlereagh Hills.
5
At the bottom of the hill follow the marked route and turn right back towards the barn. The poles either side of the roadway are snow poles measuring the depth of snow in the winter and keeping you on the roadway when low cloud is present and visibility is reduced.
End:
Divis Barn, OSNI grid ref: J272744