La Demarche-Morne Rose

Time: 6 hours roundtrip. Difficulty: 3.

Trailhead: The trail starts either at Schoelcher by taking the first road to the right after Fond-Lahaye Hill and following it to the Demarche district; or at Case-Pilote by taking the road on the right before the summit of Case-Pilote Hill and continuing to the TV relay at Grand Fond.

This is a fairly easy trail that leads to beautiful views of the harbor of Fort-de-France and Case-Pilote. The last section of the trail is forested.

The first hour passes by the savannahs along the heights of Schoelcher, in fields of thyme, onion and other home-grown vegetables. You'll already be able to see a good part of the harbor of Fort-de-France while going over this wide ridge. Next, you'll enter the forest and reach the first slopes of Morne Bois d'Inde.

At first, the forest is shaded by large-leafed manjack trees and sweet pea. Then, after passing through a more humid forest of breadfruit trees, a hour's walk takes you to the Concorde Plateau, with its groves of mahoganies.

A few minutes later, you arrive at the fork leading to Morne Chapeau Negre (Black Hat Hill) and the Pitons de Carbet. Take a left toward Piton Belly, still in the forest.

Before reaching Morne Rose, an hour later, you'll go through young groves of Caribbean pines and mahoganies. Either arrange a shuttle to pick you up in, or return the way you came.

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