Welcome to the Blackrock Hillwalking Club
We are based in Blackrock, Cork. We are an active club of 100+ members. We walk just about every weekend in the hills and mountains of Munster. Walks are usually on a Sunday but sometimes on a Saturday, We also go further afield for weekends, and trips abroad. The club also holds an annual BBQ and an outing involving a walk followed by a dinner and maybe a sing song.
New members are always welcome. You are welcome to come along on 2 walks as a guest before joining.
After June 29th we are now free to travel outside of Cork so we can get back to our full range of weekend walks in Munster. We will also be able to get to Kerry in September
Walks for next weeks are posted to the Walks tab now.
Mountaineering Ireland have issued their guidelines for hillwalkers (May 17th)
https://www.mountaineering.ie/aboutus/news/2020/?id=273
We now have the accelerated 4 phase plan on how we will emerge from our lockdown. Here are the main points as they relate to walking and hiking
- Tuesday May 5th : the only change is that 2km extends to 5km and those of you who have been cocooning may exercise outside.
- Monday May 18th : Phase 1. Outdoor sports in small groups. up to 4 people who are not in the same household. BUT the 5km range still applies. This means you can meet a few buddies to go for a local walk within the 5km range.
Cronins yard have confirmed their car park will be open from this date – not much use to us yet but I wanted to capture it for when the 20km restriction is removed. - Monday June 8th : Phase 2 + The 5km range extends to ‘Stay Local’ . So we can run walks within County Cork – how lucky are we?! Groups will need to be capped at 15 for outdoors exercise. Stay tuned while we get a few walks organized.
- Monday June 29th : Phase 3. All travel restrictions within Ireland lifted. This is the point where we could get back to our regular calendar – following the advice from MI and our Mountain Rescue teams. Luckily we have such variety on our doorstep we will have plenty of options while still minimizing risk to ourselves and others.
Latest guidelines are to keep groups to a max of 15 outdoors – MI suggest we try to keep that to 10. Indoors groups should be restricted to 6. Carpooling outside your household is also not recommended.
International travel is still not advised at this time.
Kerry Mountain Rescue have issued a reminder that their advisory from before lockdown remains in place. (see the Walks tab)
In the meantime here are some resources you may find useful
See the Trips tab for the latest on our planned trips and weekends.
Sneem, Achill, Croatia and Portugal have all been cancelled. Brandon has been moved to September 4-5.
All we can do now is hope that we will be able to travel next year and start planning.
Walks Schedule – walks for the next few weeks in July are posted to the Walks calendar. Fiona is working on the new schedule now that we plan more than a few weeks ahead. We need walks for Aug / Sept.
The latest advice from MI, the HSE and our mountain rescue teams are all still valid and need to be observed. They are listed on the Walks tab
Car Pooling
The latest guidelines from MI state that unless you are from the same household, you should not carpool. We realize that this will make parking a challenge. Please park sensibly, don’t block gates or access for locals and farmers. Be prepared to move on and start your walk from another location if necessary.