Hi people. Me and my mate are thinking of going camping and we wanted to know if it would be ok to light a fire just for cooking on. We were thinking of going somwere near tollymore but i know thats owned by the national trust. Can someone please help?
It's a messy question. Generally speaking most of the lower Mournes fall under the no fires / no fun rules. Higher up there's no-one about but also not much in the way of wood and is harder to get to. Places like Annalong Wood and the upper slopes of Donard Forest are quite good but you do get idiots who leave one hell of a mess. (I suspect that even here technically you shouldn't light fires but no-one pays much attention. Of course occasionally some plonker burns Annalong Wood down - that doesn't help the bushcrafters cause any!)
There are definitely places to camp but the people who know tend to keep them close to their chest (that doesn't include me, I'm trying to pry information out of locals too )
I do, have done, a lot of camping in Mournes. Mostly 'wild' (99.9%, not really into "orginised" campsites) as I prefer to "rough it". Have done so since I started at school 30+yrs ago!!
I rarely light a fire these days, and any I did where always above 'tree line'. If you really must light a fire :-
try and use an old fire site
try to have stones underneath fire to stop peat catching fire
keep fire as small as possible
if asked to put it out, please do so
always make sure fire is out when you've finished!!
peat can burn under surface without you noticing. Always make sure fire is out!!
if possible give area of 1m or more a 'good soaking' to make sure
Due to the popularity of the Mournes today, good camp sites are getting harder to keep secret/find. Please respect them for other people to use
Leave nothing but footprints. Take nothing but photos. h
) 
Have done so since I started at school 30+yrs ago!!
