Mountains & Viewpoints in County Tipperary

The high ground sits around the rim of the county, with the Golden Vale spread flat in the middle. In the south, the Vee Pass takes the R668 over the Knockmealdown Mountains in one long hairpin above Bay Lough, climbing to around 610 m before it drops into Waterford; on a clear day the view runs back across the plain to Cashel and the Galtees. West of Tipperary town, the Glen of Aherlow lies between the Galtees and the Slievenamuck ridge, with eight waymarked loops from a 2 km woodland stroll up to full mountain circuits, most of them starting at the Christ the King statue on the Slievenamuck side.

Further north, Devil’s Bit rises to 480 m outside Templemore, named for the gap bitten from its ridge and topped by a 45-foot cross raised by hand in the 1950s; the loop is 3.7 km, with a short steep spur at the end. Keeper Hill, above Silvermines village, is the highest ground in the Shannon region at 694 m, waymarked from Doonane car park through Coillte forest and out onto open blanket bog.

Slievenamon, above the Suir valley outside Clonmel, is the one climb here within easy reach of a town. The rest need a drive. Views are the point on most of them, so they are worth saving for a clear day, and the open ground on Keeper Hill and on Knockbane, which has no marked trail at all, is better in a dry spell.