Martinique Hiking – An amazing trail to the tallest peak on the island!
While researching the 10 tallest peaks in the Caribbean Islands, one of the most attractive hikes to me was Martinique’s Montagne Pelée, or the Mount Pelée Volcano Trail. Seeing pictures of the massive green mountain dominating the Caribbean Island landscape with its long open ridges and steep peaks really got me excited. Having had the Montagne Pelée Volcano trail at the top of my list of dream hikes for several years, it was great to be in Martinique and finally have the opportunity to experience it for myself! After reading several reviews, a common recommendation was to start the hike as early as possible in order to reach the peak before the clouds inevitably roll in, removing the chance for some amazing views from the top. Well, I have to say, our experience was not exactly consistent with those recommendations. The sky was fairly clear when we left Saint-Pierre, however after gaining some altitude on the 10+ minute drive to Le Morne-Rouge, we could see the sky was getting grayer. Another 10-15 minutes later and it was pretty grey and lightly drizzling by the time we reached the trailhead parking lot.
As a result, our morning adventure, or at least the first half of the hike, was in a combination of fog, mist, clouds and even a little light rain. The good news, however, is that the second half of our hike, which luckily included my exploration of the mountain peak, was under a near-cloudless, sun-filled sky. So clearly (pun intended), the trail conditions and views are highly dependent on the weather system around the volcano on the day of the hike.
FYI – Besides a couple of other really long trails, there are three main routes to hike Mount Pelée: A relatively short hike from the west side of the peak; A longer hike from the north side of the peak; and a slightly longer one from the southeast side of the peak. We chose to hike the latter, known as the L’Aileron Trail which can essentially be divided into 3 main trail sections plus the spur trail to the peak. The first is a long steep climb up the side of the mountain to gain altitude and get near the top of the volcano. The second section is a nice ridge walk around the top of the crater known as the Caldeira. Then there is the spur trail to the actual peak, which at 4,583 feet (1,397m) above sea level is the tallest peak in Martinique, and the 10th tallest in the Caribbean Islands. The third main trail section is a shortcut across a deep ravine to get back to the first section without going back around the crater rim.
OK, so back to our hike… We left the parking lot around 8:30 am, heading past the fenced-in telecom station and up the trail. For the first couple of hours the trail is basically straight up the side of the mountain. There was little time for a warm-up as before we knew it, we were climbing stairs. This first section is the longest part of the hike, and unfortunately for us, we were completely surrounded by a wet grey blanket. There wasn’t much for us to see from a ‘view of the island’ perspective, so our eyes were pretty much glued to the mostly washed-out steps we were climbing. This part of the trail had plenty of areas with wood planks partially buried in the ground, although many had little earth between them, having been eroded by the frequent rain. The distance between the steps varies, with most being around 2 feet in height – Kinda awkward, but much better than a mud slick. We also traversed several natural, but no less difficult, rocky ground areas as well. Everything was a little wet, so it was good that we focused on the trail, proceeding fairly slowly to avoid slipping. The trail was quite busy, which also slowed our pace as we passed people or others passed us. OK, I’ll be honest, stepping off the trail once in a while to allow others to pass, gave us a well-needed opportunity to catch our breath. I have to say though, in all our previous Caribbean Island hiking experiences, we have never come across more than 2 or 3 other small groups of people on the entire trail. That was not the case here – There must have been a hundred people hiking at pretty much the same time as us. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones that read about starting the hike early.
Back to the trail… The steepness of this first section varies over time, with some reasonably easy gradually rising sections, while others are quite steep requiring us to use both our hands and our feet to move forward. While we were enveloped by grey mist and couldn’t see too far in the distance, I was struck by the lush green vegetation that surrounded us. Even with few trees in sight, nature is pretty cool! All along the trail there are posts/markers, 14 in fact for this first section alone, that identified where we were on the mountain. After a good couple of hours, we eventually reached the top of this first section, going up and over the peak of this mountain top. From there we walked across a nice relatively flat section, skirting the occasional muddy puddle, again allowing us to catch our breath before pushing onto the next section of the trail.
Near a small shelter, a few different paths intersect, including the trail that ascends the volcano from the north side of the island. This provided us with a couple of options on how to get to the actual peak of Mount Pelée. We could have taken the steep plunge down a near-vertical ladder-like set of stairs in order to cross a deep ravine. This would have taken us on the most direct path to the plateau near the peak, however, we chose to journey counter-clockwise around the rim of the volcano to get views of the north and west side of Martinique, the Caribbean Sea, as well as down into the volcano itself. The trail along these ridges took us on a pleasant roller-coaster ride up and down small hills.
That said, as we were still shrouded in clouds, we really couldn’t see very far through the mist until we were almost fully around the Caldeira. Even without the long-distance views, it was still a very interesting hike. Again, there wasn’t a tree in sight, although the ground is blanketed with dense vegetation. The plants are mostly green although there are yellow accents everywhere as well as some colourful red flowering plants occasionally poking out through the sea of green. The ground was quite muddy, and we encountered a few areas where it was simply unavoidable getting a soaker. For most of the walk around the crater rim, I felt that we were gently descending, making it a pleasant and easy walk. It was unfortunate that we couldn’t enjoy views from the north side of Mount Pelée as I’m sure they would have been spectacular, however our luck was about to change at the western end of the trail where it connected with the trail that approaches the volcano from the west of the island.
At this point, the trail becomes very steep as it ascends the mountain. We were about halfway through our final push up the west side of the volcano when the clouds started to thin, providing gaps that allowed us to see how high we were, also revealing amazing views of the Caribbean Sea in the direction of the town of Le Precheur. A great reward for making it this far! After about an hour after starting this second trail section, we crossed over the mountaintop and came to another small cement shelter near the top of the volcano. This area is a relatively flat plateau with no real view of anything as it is surrounded by areas of higher ground. My hiking partner decided to rest here while I pushed on to the tallest peak of Montagne Pelée, following the spur trail known as Le Chinois.
The Le Chinois spur trail was extremely uncomfortable and somewhat difficult to traverse, mostly because there is no real ground to walk on. Most of the trail is a collection of big black wet boulders strewn across the landscape, many of which have fairly sharp protruding edges jutting upwards. Definitely, the trickiest part of the entire hike, requiring good balance to avoid taking a spill. The whole area is so incredibly lush and green with low-growing vegetation though, that I didn’t dwell on the negatives. My excitement was mounting as I knew that I was so close to the peak! After gaining more elevation by climbing a couple of hilltops and crossing a little gully, I could finally see the peak – A small flat(ish) surface composed of large grey boulders and blocks. After a short climb up to the awkward viewing platform, I joined just over a handful of people who had each found their own little space on the giant rock pile.
The peak was still veiled in clouds, although every once in a while a few seconds of blue appeared, providing an opportunity to experience some pretty special views. After a few minutes, I left the peak and found a much safer and more comfortable viewing area on an incredible ledge facing south. From the top of Martinique, through windows in the clouds, I enjoyed some amazing views of the central and southern parts of the island, the Caribbean Sea and even Saint Lucia in the distance. I stayed here a while, soaking in the incredible scenery and warmth of the sun. A very memorable experience!
After about an hour, I was back at the shelter with my partner preparing for the journey down the volcano. After a small snack, we headed up and over yet another mountaintop that offered a great view and perspective of the tallest point on the island that I had just visited. After descending a short distance down this mountaintop, we entered a steep side of the ravine we had earlier decided to go around. This turned out to probably be the most treacherous part of the entire hike.
The trail plunges deep into the gorge at a near-vertical angle with most people, including ourselves, scrambling backward, crab-like down the wet rock-strewn trail using both hands and feet with our bums hovering just above the ground. Attempting to walk down some of the more extreme sections of the ravine walls could easily result in a serious fall. We were rewarded for reaching the bottom of the gorge with a wonderful, unique view of Mount Pele’s green jungle ravine! Unsurprisingly, in order to get out of the gorge we then had to climb a series of steps and ladders to ascend the steep hillside on the other side of the ravine – Although we always prefer climbing up, to scrambling down steep mountainsides.
Once out of the ravine, we were back at the first section of the trail, although our descent was totally different than what we had experienced just a few hours earlier on the way up. Under virtually clear skies this time, we had incredible views of the south and southeast side of Martinique along with the Atlantic Ocean! Seeing the towns of Le Morne Rouge and L’Ajoupa-Bouillon so far in the distance really provided a perspective of how big and high this volcano is. After another hour or so, we were back at the parking lot. As we left the trailhead, we chatted about how full the parking lot was, as well as the spillover with dozens of cars lining the road as we drove away – Man, the people living and/or vacationing in Martinique sure like to hike! I can’t blame them – this is a great place to enjoy a vigorous walk in nature and take-in some incredible views!
After hiking the Montagne Pelée – L’Aileron Trail, we obtained an even deeper appreciation for how mountainous and beautiful Martinique is, and how amazing and diverse this trail is. There are steep mountainside sections, a rolling hill-like ridge section, a challenging wet and rocky section to the peak, as well as a wild in-and-out of a ravine section. Relative to other hikes we have done in the Caribbean, this has to be one of our ‘top 5’ favourites. We took our time, taking about 5-6 hours in total to experience this incredible hike, and feel very satisfied that we did it – Thanks to the weather clearing up, this hike created great memories for sure!
For more information on hiking in the Isle des Fleurs, check out our Martinique Hiking page
For an overview of the beautiful island of Martinique, take a look at our Martinique Vacations page
ACT Staff
