La Sucre Paradis Trail, St. Martin

Time: 1 hour Difficulty: 1-2. Trailhead: Atop Paradise Peak.

This loop trail starts by the antennas at the southeast end of the road atop Paradise Peak. It leads to the old Paradis sugar mill built in 1779.

Starting out, the trail descends a heavily wooded slope and occasionally passes old retaining walls from 18th and 19th century agricultural terraces. Believe it or not, the gully paralleling the trail actually turns into a small stream in the rainy season.

It takes about 20 minutes to reach the overgrown walls of the sugar mill, which is still recognizable and shaded by a giant, ancient mango tree.

Another 5 to 10 minutes of walking brings you to a stone well and two huge vats built to boil sugar cane. Today, the vats are used as cattle troughs.

At this point, you’ll join a marked blue and yellow trail that veers off to the left on the other side of the gully. The landscape now turns to dry forest. The markers will disappear as you reach the crest overlooking Colombier Valley.

Follow the crest to your left as the winding trail cuts through tall Guinea grass alongside fencing walls. As long as you stick to the crestline between the two valleys it’s hard to get lost even without markers.

It’s about a 20 minute walk from the old well and the sugar cane vats to the Paradise Peak crestline trail, which is close to he clearly visible antennas that mark the end of the walk.

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