Guadeloupe
Piton Tarade

One of the shortest walks in the area,
a mere 20 minutes round trip.

Time: 20 minutes, round trip. Difficulty: 2-3. Trail not marked but simple. Trailhead: Depart and arrive at Savane a Mulets.

Piton Tarade is a shoulder on the southeast slope of La Soufriere. A mere 10 minute walk on the small trail leads you to its 1,200m summit, through a forest zone devastated by the 1976 eruption.

The departure point is indicated by a blaze at the upper left corner of the Savane a Mulets parking area.

After crossing a rocky area, the trail starts climbing via a service path overgrown with grass. A bit higher, the trail becomes clearer and arrives at the summit, where you can appreciate the ambiance of a small, high-altitude botanical garden.

Notice the small purple flowers of mountain thyme, very common in this region above 1000 meters.

The small windmill here turned by the tradewinds helps generate electricity for the seismograph that you may have seen on the edge of the road before Savane a Mulets. This seismograph is part of a surveillance network detecting an average of 150 tremors here each year.

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