Hike Dominica – Morne Anglais Trail Description & Local Hiking Guides
Overview of hiking Dominica’s Morne Anglais Trail:
- Time required: 1.5 (Dry) – 3 (Wet) hours round trip
- Degree of Difficulty: 6 (Dry) or 8 (Wet) out of 10
- Height: Approximately 3,650 feet (1,110 meters). Actual vertical hiked was around 1,600 feet (500m), as the trail-head began around 2,000 feet (600m) above sea level
- Distance: Approximately 3 miles (5km) round trip
- Guide Required: YES – Unless you know the island really well, it will be difficult to find the trail-head. The trail itself, once you know you’re on it, is fairly well marked. Personally, I believe that a guide is always valuable as they can inform you of local flora / fauna that you would otherwise likely miss out on.
Morne Anglais is one of the tallest mountains in Dominica, either number 5 or 6, depending on the source of information. We started this Dominica hike just east of the village of Giraudel, at an old abandoned water storage facility at the end of an extremely steep secondary road. You could start the hike further down in the village itself, which would likely add an additional 150 feet (45m) of vertical, along with 30 minutes to the hike.
The trail starts with an immediate steep slope on a narrow path along-side the water facility property line, then crosses a clearing with what looks like an agricultural site of some sort, as well as a weird igloo-like structure being made of sand and cement. The trail eventually transitions into a natural path that disappears into a heavily forested area.
Once we were in the forest, our guide explained that we would be hiking through elfin forest as well as rain-forest. He also mentioned that we had picked a good day to hike, as there had been torrential rain for several days prior to our arrival.
Well… It turns out that the trail really hadn’t sufficient time to dry up after all that rain, and most of the trail, including all of the somewhat level areas, was a muddy mess. In some places, the mud was 3-5 inches (12 cm) deep and consisted of that heavy/thick muck that literally sucked the strapped-on sandals right off of our guide’s feet a couple of times.
For the majority of this Dominica hike we seemed to be on a ridge. It was very steep, almost cliff-like in some sections, on one and sometimes both sides of the trail. This along with the dense forest growth made it difficult to walk anywhere other than on the sloppy trail.
Approximately halfway up the mountain, we came to a sign nailed to a tree, announcing our entry into the “National Parks”. This marks the boundary for the Trois Pitons National Park. This sign was recently installed by none other than our guide, whose regular job is that of a Dominica Forest Ranger. All along the hike, he informed us of the different plant and tree species, as well as identifying over half a dozen different bird types and insects, just from hearing their whistling/calls sounds.
Along the heavily forested trail, there were a few small openings, breaks from the dense jungle, offering us great views of the nearby towns, coastline, surrounding mountains, as well as the top of Morne Anglais itself. We could easily see Dominica’s capital Roseau, as well as the south-west portion of the island, including the towns of Castle Comfort and Bellevue.
As we climbed higher, we had sensational views to the north and east of the island as well. We could see the other tall peaks on Dominica, specifically Watt Mountain and Morne Trois Piton, as well as Morne Diablotin in the cloud covered distance in the north. We also had a clear view of Freshwater Lake next to Morne Macaque.
From high-level data pulled from my Trail Map system, the Morne Anglais trail apparently maintained a fairly constant steep incline all the way to the top, although the steepness did decrease slightly once we passed the half-way mark. That said, our “on the ground”, step-by-step hiking experience revealed that the trail consisted of a mix of mostly steep areas, a few fairly flat areas, along with a couple of crazy short near-vertical sections.
It’s the same trail down, however the descent posed a new challenge… How to go down the steep sections, with all of this mud, and stay in control without slipping and falling (too often). We took it slow and easy and in some areas we resigned to the fact that we had to go down backward on all fours like a crab. Although we were really muddy and a little cut-up by some razor grass encountered, we made it back in one piece.
In summary, Dominica’s Morne Anglais trail was a decent Dominica hike with some outstanding views, although perhaps a little short over-all. The steepness made it fun, although we would have enjoyed the hike considerably more on a dryer track. We did not encounter any other hikers on this trail – Our guide told us that it is only hiked a few times a month. Our hike took us a little over 2 hours in total, including 10-15 minutes at the top to take in the views…
* Please note that the information provided on this page is based on 2017 conditions prior to Hurricane Maria – The trail may have changed as the island recovered *
For a guide / tour to hike Dominica’s Morne Anglais Trail, these local Tour Operators will take good care of you (Click on a Tour Operator name below for more details):
- E Voyage Hiking
- Derick Joseph – Carib Territory (d_eklipse@hotmail.com)
- It’s also possible for an “off-duty” member of the Dominica Forestry, Parks & Wildlife Division to provide guide services. Contact forestry@dominica.gov.dm to inquire.
- More Coming Soon…
For a more colourful review, check out our personal Dominica hiking experience with our Morne Anglais Blog Post
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