What a way to spend the morning – Dominica Hiking to a Secluded Waterfalls
There may be a couple of taller waterfalls in Dominica, or some that are much easier to get to, however there’s no better balance on the island between ‘ease of access’ and remoteness. The trail to Middleham provides an enjoyable Dominica hike through the rain-forest to one of the tallest waterfalls on the island. Conveniently located near the island’s capital Roseau, we just headed towards the town of Laudat, then followed the signs “to Middleham Falls”.
I have to say that our excursion wasn’t without any unplanned incidents though. I wasn’t sure where I was going and being so excited to get on the trail, I inexplicably left the main road and briefly explored one of the dirt tracks that invitingly led into the rain-forest. Anyone who knows Dominica understands that these dirt roads are very narrow, and also knows that the main roads on the island have cement curbs with deep ditches to allow the flow of rain-water. Anyways, realizing that I needed to get back to the main road, but not having any room to turn around, I drove in reverse back up to the main road. I then turned just a little too sharply while backing onto the main road and just rubbed the tall cement curb. Well, I suddenly heard a loud hissing sound and realized that I had sliced the tire. After a brief delay to change the tire, we were back on course.
Low and behold, following the signage on the main road, we eventually turned onto a secondary road which led to a small parking lot at the Morne Trois Piton National Park trail-head for Middleham Falls. OK, now we were off and running – well walking…
This Dominica hike started with a gradual incline on a natural path, although the trail was supplemented along the way with wooden step sections that provide great traction for ascending and descending, as well as for areas that are prone to flooding. The trail twists and turns a bit, following then crossing over a really nice ridge on the way to the waterfall. The ridge’s high ground provides some nice views of the surrounding valleys and mountains in the distance.
While we considered this a fairly leisurely walk over-all, the trail had just enough short steep stretches to make it “interesting” now and again. We encountered some muddy areas that were a bit slippery, and a few streams had to be crossed as well. This along with a number of small waterfalls encountered, all added to the diversity of the hike. Fortunately, the streams were shallow, so we easily crossed them by carefully stepping on the rocks that were above water. We didn’t take any headers and we managed to stay fairly dry 🙂
Other interesting features of this Dominica hike included tiny brown lizards that seemed quite at home in the mud, and it was wonderful to see life growing everywhere in the rain-forest, including the mossy carpets on some of the rocks in and near the streams. We also encountered some Park Rangers who were chain-sawing small logs and repairing sections of the wooden stairs that had rotted away under the rain and mud.
Eventually, we came to a staircase that took us to a concrete platform that provided excellent views of the dramatic falls and the pool it spills into. We were about halfway between a lush green ledge above us and a rough rocky river below us. The water streams from a hole in the vegetation at the top of the horseshoe-shaped ledge down about 260 feet (80m) into a large pool at the bottom. The water hits the pool with so much force that there’s a constant mist in the air, which results in a near-constant rainbow being beautifully painted across the bottom of the falls. It’s a breathtaking sight gazing at the lush green walls and down into the pit at the bottom.
As we had lost some time before the hike, due to the tire repair, and we had planned for a nice restaurant lunch in the area, we decided not to continue down the steep stairs and path to swim in the pool – It looked really cool though! We could see a notch in the cliff face just above the water where folks can hang-out and dive into the pool for a swim.
On the way back to the car, we came across a nice young couple on their way to the falls – They were very excited to hear that they were going to be able to have a private swim in the remote pool. I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination!
This is what Dominica Hiking is all about… Quiet, unspoiled nature, with great hiking and waterfalls to enjoy!
ACT Staff
* Please note that this review was done prior to Hurricane Maria in 2017 – The trail conditions/characteristics may have changed as the island recovered *
For the trail details as well as much more information on travelling to Dominica, please reference the following links (to pages on our website):
Hiking Dominica’s Middleham Falls
For an overview of what the Caribbean has to offer intrepid vacationers, check out our Active Caribbean Travel page
