Hike Dominica – Victoria Falls Trail Description & Local Hiking Guides
Overview of hiking Dominica’s Victoria Falls ‘river’ trail:
- Time required: A couple of hours round trip, depending on how much time you spend at the falls and in the pool
- Degree of Difficulty: 7 out of 10 (slippery rocks)
- Height: N/A
- Distance: About 1.5 miles (2.5km) return
- Guide Required: YES – This hike takes place on private property where they provide a guide – Although you could just follow the river upstream yourself, you’ll want the comfort of trusting a guide who knows the best places to cross the river and navigate up-stream.
The Victoria Falls trail is located in the south-east of Dominica, near the town of Delices. Following the signs from the main road we found ourselves driving down a steep narrow pathway into the bush. Thankfully it’s a short drive to the local family ‘Rastarant’, where one of the local Rasta guides came out to greet us.
This was truly a unique experience – Not so much a traditional Dominica hike, as an adventurous walk alongside and ‘in’ a shallow, fast flowing river.
It’s a short hike on the trail from the rastarant to the White River. From there we waded into and crossed the river onto the other side where another short trail took us a ways upstream. It wasn’t long before we waded back into the river and from there we spent most of the time walking upstream, against the current. It was very slow going, picking our way slowly across the rocks, however the setting couldn’t be more beautiful or remote feeling.
In some sections the water flowed fairly strong, and in other areas we had to crawl over truck-sized boulders in the water. Some of the rocks were much more slippery than they looked. Unfortunately, we both slipped a couple of times, demonstrating that technology (water shoes) can not outperform Mother Nature. We both collected a few souvenir scrapes and bruises along the way, but nothing to serious – This was definitely a small price to pay for the rewarding sight that awaited us.
Eventually, the ‘river’ trail led us to a breathtaking waterfalls and the large pool it drained into. Being at the bottom of the spectacular 165 feet (50m) tall waterfalls is a truly humbling experience. The power from the falls can be felt a football field away! I realized just how powerful it was as I waded into the pool and the spray from the falls prevented me from getting very close to where the water was crashing down into the pool.
It was the same way back, although it seemed much easier in this direction. Perhaps it was as simple as walking with the current instead of against it, or perhaps it was now having the knowledge of what to expect. Either way, we made it back to the car fairly quickly.
In summary, the Victoria Falls Trail hike was a very unique and absolutely mind-blowing Dominica hiking experience! The distance traveled is actually very short, however as we were travelling upstream in a wild rocky river and in awe of the magnificent waterfalls, time was ‘standing still’ anyways. We were fortunate to have crossed paths with only one other group near the beginning of the hike, so we basically had a private tour with the river and falls. It’s OK being wet the entire time, when it’s nice and warm and the reward is so uncommon and fulfilling. An epic memory maker for sure!
* 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 Victoria Falls Trail, these local Tour Operators will take good care of you (Click on a Tour Operator name below for more details):
- Cool Breeze Tours (coolbreezetours9@yahoo.com)
- Elvis Stedman (elvistourguide@gmail.com)
- More Coming Soon…
- Alternatively, guides are usually available ‘on the premises’
For a more colourful review, check out our personal Dominica hiking experience with our Victoria Falls Blog Post
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