Best Parks in Martinique

Lovely hike, straight up the ridge to the caldera and peak. Really sharp and rocky terrain with a bunch of holes near the top. Short hike length (3-4 hours) but definitely hard terrain rather than moderate. Extremely windy and in the clouds at the top. Views are spectacular when gaps in the clouds present themselves. The drive up to the trailhead is pretty wild too, hope you're good at driving standard and dodging goats!

It's a great hike, a bit of a sport but worth it. We startet early as other suggested but still cloudy, though helped beating the heat.

Great little hike, pre or post lunch.

Great hike. It’s rare to have a trail that offers so many unique views on the ascent. Every ten minutes we had another view, like a Russian doll that keeps giving you more and more and more. Driving to the beginning of the trail is like driving the Amalfi Coast, but up all the way. The trail is very well defined. It is fairly steep all the way up. About 80% in you have to walk over a lot of wet and smooth rocks as the trail become thinner. I had to use my hands and butt a few times. We start our ascent around 6am to beat the heat. As we climbed down the sun was finally on our backs. It took us 3:40 including breakfast at the end of the yellow trail. I loved this hike.

We hit the trail at 9:30 and it was an immediate steep incline, not letting up for a good 30 minutes. It is a consistently steep (but gorgeous) hike! I was expecting King Kong’s face to emerge from the clouds - it was a set-of-a-movie beautiful. The rain was intermittent but never enough to make it too muddy until we got up into the clouds. Then it became incredibly windy and more wet and humid. There is an old abandoned hut about 20 minutes from the top and from that point on the wind increased until it was like a hurricane- pushing us around. The rocks at the top were slippery and I cut my ankle when I slipped and my foot got wedges between rocks. We felt like we were in danger for a few minutes when the wind was blowing us around at the top (and we couldn’t see any of the drop offs because of the clouds. We were a good 20 feet from what seemed like a drop off though, and we were fine. Such a great adventure! This hike is for reasonably fit people. Reasonably fit people who aren’t adventurous won’t like this hike, as there is scrambling required in the top section. I went with a 9 year old and an 11 year old, and they (and I) had an AWESOME time!

The hike to the rim of the crater from Aileron is moderate. The trail up is generally in good condition and heavily trafficked. There are a few scrambles and it’s muddy in places so wear hiking boots or good shoes. The rim walk going counterclockwise starts off easy then turns moderate as you approach the northern end. If you carry on all the way around, the second half is hard! Long vertical scrambles on wet rocks, dense mist and strong winds most days. On the second half you’re hiking into the caldera and it’s amazing. Read the official guidebooks and come prepared. Wear proper clothes, hiking boots, layers and a raincoat. Bring water, food and a compass. You don’t need a guide, but a knowledgeable one will enhance your experience. Note: the elevation gain for this hike is incorrect. The hike from Aileron with the caldera loop (without the summit) was around 2,500 ft (762 metres) in gain.

From the Trailhead it looks so steep as you watch people head up the first major ascent on this trail. However, as you’re headed up that first section there are nice steps and solid rock along the way. Then you walk along the ridge that’s pretty level, watch out for the muddy spots. From there it gets much more difficult, with a lot of scrambling up and down steep sections. Be prepared to put on a jacket at the top as it’s quite windy and chilly. Beautiful and challenging. Maybe the toughest 4 miles I’ve ever hiked!

misty trail, slippery rocks, challenging