Fair Head
Fair Head or Benmore (Irish: An Bhinn Mhór; The Great Cliff) is a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) long, 200-metre (660 ft) high, mountain cliff, close to the sea, at the north-eastern corner of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The cliff's sheer and vertical 100-metre (330 ft) high dolerite rock face is shaped into distinctive vertical columns like organ pipes, which formed 60 million years ago when a sill of igneous rock was injected between horizontal Carboniferous sediments.
| Fair Head | |
|---|---|
| Irish: An Bhinn Mhór The Great Cliff | |
Fair Head's distinctive organ pipe dolerite columns, as taken from the Rathlin Island–Ballycastle ferry | |
Location of Fair Head in Northern Ireland | |
| Location | County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Nearest city | Ballycastle, 3 miles (4.8 km) |
| Coordinates | 55°13′16″N 6°09′14″W |
| Climbing type |
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| Height | face is over 100 metres (330 ft) |
| Pitches | Single pitch, Multi pitch |
| Ratings |
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| Rock type | Dolerite sill with olivine |
| Quantity of rock |
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| Development | Mountain cliff area; no facilities |
| Cliff aspect | North and North-west |
| Elevation | base is 100 metres (330 ft) a.s.l |
| Ownership | Private but access granted |
| Camping | Paid camping; also in Ballycastle |
| Classic climbs |
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| Website | Explore FairHead |
Fair Head is considered one of the best traditional climbing and bouldering locations in the British Isles and Ireland, and is one of the biggest expanses of climbable rock in Northwest Europe. It has one of the largest concentration of extreme-graded routes in the British Isles and Ireland, and has climbs at E9-grade (e.g. Rathlin Effect), as well as highball problems at E9-grade (e.g. Long runs the Fox), and bouldering at 8B+ (V14) grade (e.g. Blondie SDS).