Fair Head

Fair Head is a five-kilometre-long cliff near the sea on the north-eastern edge of County Antrim. The sheer rock face rises 200 metres above the water and shows vertical columns formed sixty million years ago when molten rock forced its way between older layers. Wild goats wander the slopes below the clifftops, and a narrow path called the Grey Man’s Path winds along the rugged shore. An Iron Age crannóg sits in a small lake below the cliff, and trout are stocked for summer fishing. The headland is private farmland, so climbers rely on local goodwill to reach the crag. The cliff offers some of the best traditional climbing and bouldering in the British Isles, with routes graded up to E9 and boulders at 8B+. Over four hundred climbs are listed, most over fifty metres long and many requiring long abseils to reach. The rock provides steep cracks and wide chimneys that test even expert climbers, and the annual Fair Head Climbing Meet each June draws participants from across Ireland. David Flanagan called it the ‘jewel in the crown of Irish climbing’, and climbing magazines rank several routes among the best in the UK. Visitors find a series of distinct climbing areas along the five-kilometre face. The Main Crag stretches for three kilometres with sub-sectors like Binnagapple, Grey Man’s Path and White Lightning Amphitheatre, each offering different styles of climbing. Routes range from the popular An Bealach Rúnda to extreme multi-pitch lines such as Track of the Cat and The Dark Side. The wind-swept northerly faces stay cold and slow to dry, while the westerly walls catch the sun, giving climbers a choice of conditions.