[5][6] Around the peak, there is "montane heathland", with plant life including heather, bilberries and cowberries, although this is being damaged by hillwalking and grazing.

[3][4] It was also historically called Slieve Sawel,[9][10][11] from the Irish word sliabh ("mountain").

On 5 January 1944 a Royal Navy Stinson Reliant (FK914) of 878 Naval Air Squadron was on a flight from RNAS Eglinton (HMS Gannet) to RNAS Machrihanish (HMS Landrail) when it crashed into Sawel Mountain in bad weather, killing all three crew.

Due to snow drifts on the mountain the bodies of the crew weren't recovered until 29th January.

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