Saint Lucia Hiking – Few ever see the Pitons from this angle!
Saint Lucia is nicely positioned in the southern Caribbean’s Windward Islands, just south of Martinique and west of Barbados. The mountainous island is covered with lush green rain-forest and is instantly recognizable by their distinctive Pitons (mountains) along the south-west coast. A very popular Caribbean destination known for romantic getaways, St. Lucia also has plenty to offer adventure seekers interested in a hiking-filled vacation. While most hikers go to climb the Gros Piton, I chose to hike the island’s tallest peak, Mount Gimie. Oh, what an excellent decision that was!
Our day started with a pleasant drive down the west coast from where we were staying near Anse La Raye. We met our guide in the village of Migny, just a little south and inland from Soufriere. We joined a few others and headed off up a rough, partly paved road. The track was on a steady incline and we were met with a nice breeze that swept over the farmers’ fields – What a great way to start the day! While we had some decent views of nearby valleys and the Gros Piton way off in the distance, I was looking ahead to getting into the jungle… After about an hour we headed west on a dirt path towards the Edmund Forest Reserve.
From here, the trail got real interesting – This is what I was looking forward to, spending half a day roaming through a rainforest! We hiked through some pretty dense forest, with our guide literally clearing parts of the trail with his machete so we had a path to follow. Clearly, we would not have been able to do this trail without him. Talk about not being able to see the forest for the trees, the trail had so many ups-and-downs and twists-and-turns, I wasn’t real sure where we were going. There were even a few short distances of vertical where we had to literally climb, some up and some down, with our hands using tree roots like a natural ladder. OMG – What an awesome and wild St. Lucia hike!
Every once in a while, we stopped while our knowledgeable guide pointed out some weird and wonderful looking plants or birds that we could hear along the way. While we couldn’t spot most of the birds, I did see the occasional colourful hummingbird fluttering from plant to plant though. These breaks conveniently gave us some time to catch our breath and drink some water. Thinking back, I believe that we hiked across a ridge or two, ventured down into a valley and crossed a small river before attacking another ridge that would take us to the top of Mount Gimie. I had been looking forward to a remote and challenging rain-forest hike on the island, and this trail satisfied that… and we were far from finished…
For the next hour or so the trail became pretty much all uphill, at a pretty steep incline, making our workout a little more intense. Thankfully, the number of photo opportunities increased along this path, although maybe we were just finding a reason to stop and catch our breath. Seriously, we had amazing views of the valley we had just crossed, as well as a very unique perspective of the iconic pitons that had come into view. I doubt too many people get to see the spectacular Pitons and Tet Paul from this vantage point – The view was Priceless!
The air was so moist and the flora so tropical, that there was also some amazing rain-forest vegetation to capture in photos. As we neared the peak, I learned the hard way about a Caribbean plant that I had heard of but never encountered before. Due to the steepness of the trail, I reached down and grabbed a handful of some greenery to help with my balance. Well, it turned out to be ‘razor grass’ and I sliced the palm of my hand and all my fingers. Kind of like getting a bunch of paper-cuts all at once. Oh well… Just a few more minutes and the discomfort in my hand became a distant memory as we were well rewarded when we reached the top of the Island.
Mount Gimie, not the famous Pitons, is St. Lucia’s highest peak, and at just over 3,000 feet (950m) above sea level we had sensational panoramic views of the island. We could clearly see the east and south coastlines, including Vieux Fort and the Maria Islands. Looking to the north across the whole island, really gave me an appreciation for the rugged terrain of St. Lucia. We lucked out and enjoyed some incredible views for several minutes before the top of the mountain became enveloped in clouds. Although this was the pinnacle of our day, we were still in for more fun and adventure…
We headed back down the same way we had come, however this time once we descended the mountain and were heading back through the valley, we took a little detour. Our guide took us upstream along the river we had crossed earlier and after a few minutes, we came to a small waterfall, complete with a pool. It was really refreshing to wash the sweat off and cool off my over-heated feet. This was a nice surprising break, although apparently I was looking for more self-inflicted pain. As we crossed the river I was jumping from rock to rock trying to keep my shoes dry, and I slipped on a large rock. Both of my feet flew right out from under me and I landed on my butt – It must have been quite comical to watch. Fortunately, my butt is well padded, so I just sort of bounced. No big deal.
As we were nearing the end of the hike, I was thinking that this trail probably isn’t used more than a couple of times a week. When we got back to the road section and was heading down to our car, I started to better appreciate the refreshing breeze and nice views of the surrounding valleys. Our guide pulled some grapefruits and tangerines down from the trees on the side of the road, so we also had an invigorating snack along the way.
Wow – I got to tell you… St. Lucia’s Mount Gimie trail really has it all. Relative to some other Caribbean mountain hikes, this one was not too long or too steep. It had some unique near-vertical sections to spice things up a bit, and it was filled with amazing tropical plant life, a waterfall, and of course spectacular views! One of my favourite Caribbean hikes for sure!
Want to see more? Check out our Epic St Lucia Hiking of Mount Gimie Trail video on YouTube!
ACT Staff
For a more ‘technical’ Trail Report as well as much more information on hiking in Saint Lucia, please reference the following links (to pages on our website):
For an overview of this popular Caribbean Island destination, take a look at our Saint Lucia Vacations page
If you’re looking for more active things to do while vacationing on the island, click on our Saint Lucia Adventures blog for more great ideas!
For a more relaxed vacation itinerary, you can find great Tourist Attractions on the island, by checking out our Things to Do in Saint Lucia blog
