Waterfalls – Page 2

The Best Hiking in Saint Lucia – The Gros Piton & More…

By freem32@cogeco.ca Adventure, Caribbean, Hiking, Waterfalls

ST. Lucia Hiking – Rain-Forest Trails, Waterfalls and Epic Views Await You

I suspect that most people think of the Caribbean as a place to relax on the beach with a tropical rum punch in hand… and while that’s a great idea, when I think of the Caribbean, I paint a mental picture of hiking through a lush rain-forest, passing a beautiful waterfall along the way up a green volcanic mountain, enjoying eye-popping views of the Caribbean Sea as a reward! On Saint Lucia, you can easily make this vision come true.

Saint Lucia Hiking includes Rain-Forest and Volcano trails — St. Lucia’s Mount Gimie in the Background

You’ll find Saint Lucia in the southern Caribbean’s ‘Windward’ islands, just south of Martinique and west of Barbados. When exploring St. Lucia, you’ll find a mountainous island covered in lush green rain-forest, with the distinctive and easily recognizable Pitons (mountains), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A very popular Caribbean destination known for romantic getaways, St. Lucia also has plenty to offer adventurous travelers looking for a hiking-filled vacation – If you know where to look…

Saint Lucia hiking offers a variety of trails on the island, offering something for everyone – From short nature walks to intermediate hikes along with a couple of challenging hikes. While no hiking trip to Saint Lucia is complete without climbing the majestic Gros Piton, the island’s highest peak is Mount Gimie at just over 3,000 feet (950m) above sea level. Our favourite trails on the island include:

The Best St. Lucia Hiking Trails on the south end of the island include:

Saint Lucia Hiking includes Rain-Forest and Volcano trails - Mount Gimie

Mount/Morne Gimie Trail in the Edmund Forest Reserve – Plan a full day for this fun and challenging hike covering 5-6 miles (8-10km) of amazing tropical terrain. For those looking for a remote and challenging rain-forest hike on St. Lucia, this is the one to do. While the trail meanders up and down across a mountain ridge and valley, the absolute vertical from start to finish is just under 2,000 feet (600m). You’ll experience a range of trail conditions on this hike, including a couple of amazingly steep sections, where you will need to climb natural ladders of tree roots. You’ll see amazing plant life in this moist rain-forest, and you’ll even be able to go for a dip at the bottom of a waterfall. Of course, the views of the island at various stops along the trail are spectacular, including a very unique perspective of the Pitons from the island’s interior.

For a more colourful review, check out our personal, first-hand account of Hiking St. Lucia’s Tallest Peak

For more information on this trail, including hiking guides to show you the way, check out our St. Lucia Mount – Morne Gimie Hike page

While we’re talking about it… The Edmund Forest Reserve is home to one end of a couple of ‘cross-country’ trails of note. The Des Cartiers to Edmund Forest Trail is an approximately 5 mile (8km) long easy-to-intermediate level hike, while the Barre D’Isle to Edmund Forest Trail is a more challenging 10 mile (16km) Saint Lucia hike with a section of the trail venturing across a nice ridge.

Saint Lucia Hiking includes Rain-Forest and Volcano trails - Gros Piton — The view south – Near the top of St. Lucia’s Gros Piton

Gros Piton Trail – An “adventurous” trip to St. Lucia is incomplete without hiking the iconic Gros Piton. This memorable St. Lucia hike consists of a fairly challenging climb to the peak, which is just over 2,500 feet (780m) tall. While this trail is under 3 miles (4.4km) round trip, it’s all uphill (on the way up that is ;), with some pretty steep sections. As expected, once you catch your breath, the views from the top, of the western and south part of the island, are sensational. While this is a somewhat short hike, in order to really enjoy it, you’ll require decent leg strength and cardio. FYI – The Petit Piton can also be hiked, however it is extremely steep and potentially dangerous in some areas.

For a more colourful review, check out our personal, first-hand account of Hiking St. Lucia’s Stair Climber of a Trail

For a more detailed review of this trail, along with a list of local guides to make it happen, click on our St. Lucia Gros Piton Hike page

Saint Lucia Hiking includes Rain-Forest and Volcano trails - The Pitons from Mount Gimie — A unique view of the Pitons and Tet Paul, from part way up Mount Gimie

Saint Lucia Hiking includes Rain-Forest and Volcano trails - EnBas Saut Falls — Enbas Saut Falls – The top cascade / pool

Enbas Saut Falls Trail – This is an intermediate level St. Lucia hike with lots of rustic wooden/natural stairs to first descend, then climb-back-up on the return journey. Depending on your starting point, the hike can cover over 5 miles (9km), requiring 3-4 hours to get to and from the fun and amazing cascading waterfalls.

For a more colourful review, check out our personal, first-hand account of Hiking a Stairway to Adventure

For more info, including hiking guides to show you the way, check out our St. Lucia Enbas Saut Falls Hike page

The Best Saint Lucia Hiking Trails elsewhere on the island include:

Further north in Saint Lucia, you’ll find a number of interesting rain-forest trails. The Union Nature Trail, a quick 10 minute drive east of Castries, provides a short and easy trail – Good for a much-needed visit to nature. The Intermediate level Piton Flore Trail, just south-east of Castries, is a hilly hike taking about 4 hours to complete. Other trails in the area include the Jacquot Trail and the Millet (Bird Sanctuary) Trails. Further south you’ll find the interesting and varied Barre D’Isle Ridge – Mount La Combe – Grande Ravine area trails.

For more information about hiking in the north end of St. Lucia, around Castries, including a list of guides who can get you on the trail, click on our St. Lucia Hiking page

The Eastern Nature Trail, not surprisingly found on the east side of island, is a fairly easy, but reasonably long St. Lucia hike along the remote eastern coastline of the island – Great for adventurers looking to get away from it all.

If you’re looking for a more relaxing walk on the the island, you can always enjoy an outing on Pigeon Island National Park or the highly recommended Tet Paul Nature Trail!

Saint Lucia Hiking includes Rain-Forest and Volcano trails - The Petit Piton from the Tet Paul Nature Trail — The Petit Piton from the Tet Paul Nature Trail

For more information about the trails on the island, including hiking guides who will help you get the most out of your day, click on our St. Lucia Hiking page

So… When you’ve had enough relaxation on the beach and have enjoyed indulging in a local chocolate based meal, you can go for a heart pumping adventurous hike up a piton or mountain or simply take a great leisurely stroll through the rain-forest… Whatever you choose to do, you’re sure to have a memorable hiking holiday in St. Lucia!

ACT Staff

If you’re looking for other exciting activities to experience on the island, take a look at our St. Lucia Adventures recommendations

When you’re not hiking, snorkeling or biking around the island, there’s plenty of other things to do on St. Lucia, including a visit to the Sulphur Springs, Mud Baths and associated Waterfalls. For more ideas for a fun and relaxing vacation, take a look at our St. Lucia Attractions blog

For an overview of the beautiful island of Saint Lucia, click on our St. Lucia Vacations page

Have fun!

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Dominica’s Best Waterfall Trail – Middleham Falls

By freem32@cogeco.ca Adventure, Caribbean, Hiking, Tourist Attractions, Waterfalls

What a way to spend the morning – Dominica Hiking to a Secluded Waterfalls

Dominica Hiking to Middleham Falls - A great way to spend the morning

There may be a couple of taller waterfalls in Dominica, or some that are much easier to get to, however there’s no better balance on the island between ‘ease of access’ and remoteness. The trail to Middleham provides an enjoyable Dominica hike through the rain-forest to one of the tallest waterfalls on the island. Conveniently located near the island’s capital Roseau, we just headed towards the town of Laudat, then followed the signs “to Middleham Falls”.

I have to say that our excursion wasn’t without any unplanned incidents though. I wasn’t sure where I was going and being so excited to get on the trail, I inexplicably left the main road and briefly explored one of the dirt tracks that invitingly led into the rain-forest. Anyone who knows Dominica understands that these dirt roads are very narrow, and also knows that the main roads on the island have cement curbs with deep ditches to allow the flow of rain-water. Anyways, realizing that I needed to get back to the main road, but not having any room to turn around, I drove in reverse back up to the main road. I then turned just a little too sharply while backing onto the main road and just rubbed the tall cement curb. Well, I suddenly heard a loud hissing sound and realized that I had sliced the tire. After a brief delay to change the tire, we were back on course.

Low and behold, following the signage on the main road, we eventually turned onto a secondary road which led to a small parking lot at the Morne Trois Piton National Park trail-head for Middleham Falls. OK, now we were off and running – well walking…

This Dominica hike started with a gradual incline on a natural path, although the trail was supplemented along the way with wooden step sections that provide great traction for ascending and descending, as well as for areas that are prone to flooding. The trail twists and turns a bit, following then crossing over a really nice ridge on the way to the waterfall. The ridge’s high ground provides some nice views of the surrounding valleys and mountains in the distance.

While we considered this a fairly leisurely walk over-all, the trail had just enough short steep stretches to make it “interesting” now and again. We encountered some muddy areas that were a bit slippery, and a few streams had to be crossed as well. This along with a number of small waterfalls encountered, all added to the diversity of the hike. Fortunately, the streams were shallow, so we easily crossed them by carefully stepping on the rocks that were above water. We didn’t take any headers and we managed to stay fairly dry 🙂

Other interesting features of this Dominica hike included tiny brown lizards that seemed quite at home in the mud, and it was wonderful to see life growing everywhere in the rain-forest, including the mossy carpets on some of the rocks in and near the streams. We also encountered some Park Rangers who were chain-sawing small logs and repairing sections of the wooden stairs that had rotted away under the rain and mud.

Eventually, we came to a staircase that took us to a concrete platform that provided excellent views of the dramatic falls and the pool it spills into. We were about halfway between a lush green ledge above us and a rough rocky river below us. The water streams from a hole in the vegetation at the top of the horseshoe-shaped ledge down about 260 feet (80m) into a large pool at the bottom. The water hits the pool with so much force that there’s a constant mist in the air, which results in a near-constant rainbow being beautifully painted across the bottom of the falls. It’s a breathtaking sight gazing at the lush green walls and down into the pit at the bottom.

As we had lost some time before the hike, due to the tire repair, and we had planned for a nice restaurant lunch in the area, we decided not to continue down the steep stairs and path to swim in the pool – It looked really cool though! We could see a notch in the cliff face just above the water where folks can hang-out and dive into the pool for a swim.

On the way back to the car, we came across a nice young couple on their way to the falls – They were very excited to hear that they were going to be able to have a private swim in the remote pool. I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination!

This is what Dominica Hiking is all about… Quiet, unspoiled nature, with great hiking and waterfalls to enjoy!

ACT Staff

* Please note that this review was done prior to Hurricane Maria in 2017 – The trail conditions/characteristics may have changed as the island recovered *

For the trail details as well as much more information on travelling to Dominica, please reference the following links (to pages on our website):

Hiking Dominica’s Middleham Falls

Dominica Hiking Trails

Dominica Vacations

For an overview of what the Caribbean has to offer intrepid vacationers, check out our Active Caribbean Travel page

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Saint Lucia Rainforest Hike with Cascading Waterfalls

By freem32@cogeco.ca Adventure, Caribbean, Hiking, Nature, Waterfalls

St. Lucia hike on the Enbas Saut Falls Trail is a diverse hike through lush green rainforest to swim beneath a natural cascading waterfall

Saint Lucia Hiking to Enbas Saut Falls – A Stairway to Adventure

Saint Lucia is one of the most popular Caribbean Islands for good reason. Located just south of Martinique and west of Barbados, the island is a mountainous green paradise surrounded by inviting blue waters. Best known for its distinctive twin Pitons, St. Lucia offers a variety of hiking trails for those looking to be active in the Caribbean. There’s something for everyone, from short nature walks to intermediate hikes along with a couple of challenging adventures. On this trip to the island, we were looking for a rustic rainforest hike with waterfalls – We found that with the Enbas Saut Falls trail.

Similar to our Mount Gimie hike, the adventure began in the town of Migny, just south-east of Soufriere. This time we decided to challenge the rough secondary road in our rental vehicle. It wasn’t quick or easy, but the little car made it partway up the rocky/slippery track without taking too much of a beating. Honestly, the drive was a little stressful and I’m not sure it was worth it – Might as well have walked up the road and enjoyed the sights and sounds of nature. Anyways, we parked where the hiking route splits between the Mount Gimie trail and the path to the Edmund Forest Reserve, also known as the Central Rainforest. Heading towards the Reserve, we followed a dirt road slightly uphill into the rainforest. At one point, we passed a strange sight – An area where the side of the mountain had washed away due to a recent hurricane. Always humbling to see the power of nature.

The day was a little gray and overcast, but our spirits were high as we were looking forward to another wild St. Lucia hike. After a half-hour or so the trail transitioned into a natural path which eventually took us to a little gazebo next to a hut where a sign laying on the ground unceremoniously proclaiming, “Welcome to Enbas Saut Falls”… OK, so if this is the official trailhead, how are we supposed to get to this spot in the middle of the forest? I suspect there’s more than one trail to reach this spot. Regardless, from here we started down a number of man-made “hollow” wooden stair sections. I say “hollow”, as the rock/earth filling for the steps that I imagined were there at some point, had been pretty much washed away, making the stairs almost awkward to walk on. Between sections of stairs, there were some natural paths as well, making this a nice diverse hike. I found this outing pleasantly offbeat as most Caribbean hikes I’ve experienced started with an uphill climb. On this trail, we were already on somewhat high ground, so we gradually descended into a valley. With Morne Gimie, the island’s tallest peak, looming ever larger in the background, we made our way down over 1,200 of these steps down to the waterfalls area. Don’t ask me who counted them, but that’s what our guide told us.

Our unassuming guide provided a wealth of information about the local flora and birdlife that we encountered along the way. He identified various ferns along with gommier, mahogany, mahoe and mango trees. He also pointed out a few plants used in traditional medicines on the island. Our guide also showed us two distinctive types of hummingbird, along with a number of different bird species. We saw several land crabs climbing along the steps, and I was bewildered with the dense vegetation everywhere. There were literally plants growing out of plants wrapped in other plants! Hiking through a cloud forest, rainforest, and elfin woodlands, we reached the valley floor about an hour or so after we left the top of the stairs.

As we had been in the thick of the rainforest, it was no surprise that it rained a little, a few times… but we really didn’t notice it as we were already pretty moist from the humid air and the physical excursion – The weather didn’t dampen our spirits (no apologies for the pun). It was a beautiful hike and we did not feel uncomfortable at all, although we had to be careful with our footing as the ground and trail were wet and a little slick.

Down in the valley, we crossed a small river, which had a natural vine “rope” hanging over it. Well, you know we had to take turns swinging around playing Tarzan! Although I’ve enjoyed several hikes in the Caribbean, this was the first time I’ve had this pleasurable experience.

It wasn’t long before we reached the actual waterfalls area. Suddenly, the trail had 10-15 cement stairs in the middle of nowhere, leading down to the upper falls’ pool… Yes, I said cement. Wow – I can’t imagine having had to carry bags of cement all the way down here! There was a small group swimming in the pool, so we continued on and discovered that there were actually 2 small cascading waterfalls with pools.

The top falls were about 15-20 feet (5.5m) high with a fairly large/deep pool, while the bottom falls were slightly higher at 20-25 feet (7m) tall with a small shallow pool that spilled into a rocky river that carried the water away. We took a refreshing swim in the deeper upper pool, careful not to let the current take us all the way over the lower falls. The rocks here were so large and smooth, it felt like we were slipping and sliding in a giant cement waterpark.

I found this area very soothing and peaceful. Surrounded by thick jungle canopy, I really enjoyed this wild experience in Saint Lucia! As the sun was unable to penetrate the foliage, I can’t exactly say that we dried off, but after a bit of a break we eventually put our shirts back on, gathered our packs and headed back up the way we came. This time, in the more familiar up-hill direction, we went back up the 1,200 steps. While there were a few steep sections, it was not too strenuous a hike back to the car. This intermediate-level St. Lucia hike was educational and a fun way to spend the morning.

Want to see more? Check out our Hiking down to Enbas Saut Falls 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

Tag: Waterfalls

The Best Hiking in Saint Lucia – The Gros Piton & More…

ST. Lucia Hiking – Rain-Forest Trails, Waterfalls and Epic Views Await You

The Best St. Lucia Hiking Trails on the south end of the island include:

The Best Saint Lucia Hiking Trails elsewhere on the island include:

Dominica’s Best Waterfall Trail – Middleham Falls

What a way to spend the morning – Dominica Hiking to a Secluded Waterfalls

Saint Lucia Rainforest Hike with Cascading Waterfalls

Saint Lucia Hiking to Enbas Saut Falls – A Stairway to Adventure

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