Martinique Hiking – Discover the Tallest Waterfall of L’Ile aux Fleurs!
The first thing I wanted to do after arriving in Martinique was to get out for a nice casual hike. It’s a great way to unwind and introduce oneself to what the French Caribbean island, known as the “Island of Flowers” has to offer. The Cascade de la Riviere Couleuvre, AKA the Couleuvre River Waterfall trail was close to where we were staying just north of Saint-Pierre, and as it turned out, was great choice for a warm welcome to Martinique!
The trailhead is literally located at “the end of the road” on the northwest side of the island. The northbound D10 road ends after a wild series of twisty-turny, up-and-down sections of pavement at a small parking lot capable of holding maybe 10-15 cars. The morning we went for our hike, there were dozens of cars parked at the end of the D10, overflowing all along the sides of the road. As we were to find out, this is very characteristic of most ‘attractions’ in Martinique. Just beyond the parking lot, there is a small but clear post marking the start of the trail, along with an alternate route that leads to the beach, which I hear can be good for snorkeling on a calm day.
I knew instantly that this was going to be an awesome trail, as we were immediately surrounded by tropical rainforest plants and trees. We passed some huge trees along the trail and quickly saw tons of interesting fern-like vegetation growing on everything. Of course what really stood out were the massive vines everywhere, climbing like serpents from the ground up into the tree tops and back down again. Some of the vines seem to twist around themselves forming what appear to be large tree branches. Along with the large trunks of tropical trees there were some massive stands of bamboo that made quite an impression on us. That said, we had to keep our eye on the trail, specifically on the frequent river, or more accurately, creek crossings.
The trail took us on a constant but fairly gradual incline on the way to the falls, snaking back and forth across the Couleuvre River. Honestly, I lost track, but we must have crisscrossed the shallow creek close to ten times in each direction. The river crossings were easy to manage at the time of our hike – We didn’t even get our feet wet as we gingerly stepped across rocks that seemed conveniently spaced across the water. The stream was moving fairly fast though and I can imagine that the crossings can become much more challenging during the rainy season, or even after a big downpour perhaps. What I don’t understand is how the fish got into this shallow stream of water… Curious for sure.
The dense jungle foliage prevented much sun from penetrating the ground, so there are plenty of moss-covered rocks along the river banks and plenty of fallen logs topped with clumps of little mushrooms and other assorted fungi. I noticed some peculiar tiny white mushrooms and some more familiar-looking brown mushrooms on our walk… and Ya, it was hot and humid for us as well, although to be fair, we had just arrived from a cold part of North America, so hiking through a rainforest was a bit of a shock to our system. A welcome change, but a shock nonetheless.
While there were several people on the trail, something else that we are not used to experiencing on our Caribbean hikes prior to this trip, it was by no means congested. We still felt like we were enjoying time (nearly) alone in nature.
While we had plenty to appreciate on the journey, I did get excited as I started to hear the faint but distinct sound of a waterfall in the distance. Eventually, I caught a glimpse of some falling water through a break in the foliage. After a few short minutes of hiking, or rather climbing over a couple of boulders and scaling some steep ground, there it was – the star attraction of the hike! A thin and long stream of water appears from nowhere in the sky… then plunges about 100 feet (30m) down a near-vertical black rock cliff face surrounded by well-nourished curtains of greenery!
The trail to Martinique’s tallest waterfall is about a mile (1.6km) long or 2 miles (>3km) return. Hiking the sloped trail results in an energetic and warming walk to the beautiful falls, and a relaxing stroll with momentum on your side on the way back. Taking a leisurely, exploring pace it took us just under an hour to reach the waterfall, and about half that time to return to the parking lot. That said, the duration really depends on how nimble you are in crossing the river, and how well your cardio handles the constant gentle incline which amounts to close to an 820-foot (250m) vertical rise in just over a mile (1.6km) of ground covered.
Overall, an excellent start to our Martinique adventures – We couldn’t have asked for anything better!
For a more ‘technical’ Trail Report as well as much more information on Martinique Hiking, please reference the following links (to pages on our website):
- Hiking Martinique – The Cascade de la Riviere Couleuvre Trail
- Martinique Hiking – Trail Reviews and Hiking Guides
For an overview of the beautiful island of Martinique, take a look at our Martinique Vacations page
ACT Staff
