gros pitons nature trail?

I would LOVE for the opportunity to hike to the top of the Gros Piton, and I've read that it's about a 3-4 hour roundtrip-hike. However, isn't it a bit of a long ride to get to that part of the island from the cruise port? I've seen lots of tours that offer a hiking trip to the pitons for well over $100 per person, which I'm not willing to pay. I've read you can just take a taxi there and then pay $30 for a required tour guide.

Is there enough time to go from the port to the gros piton, hike, and then make it back with plenty of time to spare? Thanks!

I would LOVE for the opportunity to hike to the top of the Gros Piton, and I've read that it's about a 3-4 hour roundtrip-hike. However, isn't it a bit of a long ride to get to that part of the island from the cruise port? I've seen lots of tours that offer a hiking trip to the pitons for well over $100 per person, which I'm not willing to pay. I've read you can just take a taxi there and then pay $30 for a required tour guide.

 

Is there enough time to go from the port to the gros piton, hike, and then make it back with plenty of time to spare? Thanks!

We love hiking the islands too, great way to see the countryside, and it would be awesome hiking up the Pitons, but we read it's a 7 hour return hike, and a 1 hour cab each way from the ship.

We read that Barre de L'isle Trail is good, half hour drive from the port, 1 hour trail with lots of forest and ocean scenery. Optional 1 hour further hike up Mt. La Combe Ridge, guide recommended ($10).

And there is a smaller unnamed trail close to the port, north of Castries and inland from the Gablewoods Shopping Mall near Friendship Inn, looks like a 10 minute drive on the map, and under a mile around it.

If you find more info please post it. We go in March, when do you?

-Bob

I would LOVE for the opportunity to hike to the top of the Gros Piton, and I've read that it's about a 3-4 hour roundtrip-hike. However, isn't it a bit of a long ride to get to that part of the island from the cruise port? I've seen lots of tours that offer a hiking trip to the pitons for well over $100 per person, which I'm not willing to pay. I've read you can just take a taxi there and then pay $30 for a required tour guide.

 

Is there enough time to go from the port to the gros piton, hike, and then make it back with plenty of time to spare? Thanks!

I have a 2007 Fodor's Guidebook which says that you are only allowed to hike Gros Piton, that it is very difficult, and that it requires the permission of the Forest & Lands Department and a knowledgeable guide ($45)

Thanks for the replies!

Bob7 - we go in July. Would it be too miserably hot to do any kind of hike that time of year? I really hope not!

I've heard different things about this trail. I've heard it takes 3-6 hours ONE WAY, but then I've also heard 3.5-4 hours roundtrip (which seems like the more prevalent estimation). I've also heard that it costs $25 per person to pay for protecting the trail and paying for the guide (which I believe is required). Like the previous poster said, other places spot that number around $45, I've also heard $30..but that is MUCH better than what all the excursion groups are asking..they all want $130+ per person!! TO GO ON A HIKE!! A beautiful hike none the less, but still..that's just ridiculous. Anyone know how much it costs to take a taxi from the port to the pitons?

I found a really neat website from hikers who took the trail and posted lots of pictures and a little story about their hike as well..pretty neat:

http://www.naturalbornhikers.com/GrosPiton/GrosPiton.htm

On there, they mentioned the hike is moderate to strenuous, which would be doable for us..although we'd probably be feeling it a little bit the next day.

Here's an excerpt from a website I was just on:

"Hikes can be arranged through the Forestry Department. Or you can simply go to Fond Gens Libre (south of Soufriere and neighboring the Union Vale Estate) and inquire about a guide-you will have an army of willing volunteers."

Double post - sorry!

Smurd, thx for all the info! Too hot in July? ... nah, ya have a cold beer in each hand, you drink one going up, and the other coming down, hey you'd have the best story to tell at dinner.

What an excellent Piton link you posted, that just tells everything there is to know, thx for finding it. We also emailed the hikers with thx for doing such a good page. Wendy and I have decided it's too much scrambling over loose rock, too far to drive, and we could have a time problem if Wendy has to carry me all the way back down. So we're taking a hard look at the Barre de L'isle Trail closer to the port.

Anyone know how much it costs to take a taxi from the port to the pitons?

I read that it was $70 for 4 ppl.

-Bob

BTW, I found a good link to the Barre de L'Isle Trail, with photos and a good description. Not as sexy as the Pitons, but pretty, and a quicker drive.

http://www.geocities.com/sluforestrails/newpage6.htm

-Bob

I know I'm a little late on replying to this post but I just came across it. RCI runs an excursion that hikes Gros Piton as well as visits one of the villages at the base. While it is expensive, the whole excursion is scheduled to take 7 hours (and that should include the 1 hour water taxi ride there and 1 hour back). My thought is that if the cruise line thinks they can safely plan an excursion in the timeframe they have than I would imagine you could do it on your own too. Just a further note, this excursion is scheduled to leave at 8:30am so it starts early.

Yes the water taxi is definitely the way to go, quicker than a cab. The hassle would be getting back, no one seems to know how often the water taxis run back from Soufriere to the ship, and if you hike 9-4 you gotta get going right away if you're sailing at 6. The ship tour would have fast transport from Soufriere over to the Pitons and back, and a boat waiting to go back to the ship. It's those transfers that are a prob doing it on your own. But what an awesome day!

We're booked to do the Barre De L'Isle trail and we'll probably go up Mt. Lacome too, it's another hour.

Tell us how you make out. When do you go? We go next week.

-Bob

Hi Smurd: We were on the Pearl in January. I was not able to get all the necessary information together to climb Gros Piton. Well, after seeing it by land, I made it my goal to climb it some day. (I am 52 years old) Well, we have now booked the Pearl again for November with our four kids. My plans are all in place. Maybe this can help you. Please let me know if you were able to make arrangements and made the hike.

I contacted mysticmantours.com telling them what I wanted. I heard back from Caroline (very nice and responded within a day) who said they could have a boat waiting for us at our cruise ship. They will then take us by boat (35 minute trip) to Soufriere for $50 pp (there are 8 of us) and drop us off at the beach at the foot of Gros Piton. We can then hike Gros Piton. (She will get back to me on the price and arrangements for a guide). Mystic tours will pick us up at a designated time to get us back to the ship on time. Gros Piton is now my screen saver at work!

Have a wonderful time, and do let us know how that hike goes. We're really interested in doing a hike when we arrive in St. Lucia in August, so we're starting to research options.

I hiked Gros Piton during a 9-hour day with Celebrity Summit in early December.

It was estimated that the hike would take at least 4 hours roundtrip, and it would be a 70 – 90 minutes drive each way by land, but only 35-40 minutes using a water taxi. Because the island just had a major hurricane and the road was in horrible shape, I was concerned about construction and traffic delays, so I opted for a water taxi.

Wendell at mysticmantours.com was very helpful in arranging everything. He had the boat waiting behind the cruise ship so we got off at 8am sharp and cruised straight to Soufriere where I paid via CC in his office.

The prices were:

US $125pp for two people

or

US $75pp for four people

or

US $65pp for six people

or

US $55pp for eight people

Now comes the only part I didn't like. I wanted to be dropped off at Jalousie Beach so we could hike up to the trailhead. They didn't know if this was possible, and couldn't find a guide willing to meet us at the beach, so they had a taxi driver waiting for us. The taxi driver kept on insisting that it was impossible to hike up from the beach to the trail head, and we would be crazy to try it. He wanted US$60 roundtrip from Soufriere to the trailhead, which was outrageous. I wanted to call their bluff and be dropped off at Jalousie Beach, but they said it was closed because of the hurricane and there would be no one around. Finally one of us agreed (over my objections) to pay $40 for a one-way ride to the trailhead, which was still a huge rip-off, and it was agreed that the water taxi would pick us up at the dock at Jalousie Beach in the afternoon. I knew the taxi driver was full of you know what, but couldn't prove it at the time. He kept on telling me "see how long the drive is… there is no way you could walk it", when I knew he had to drive us the long way around several mountains, whereas the water taxi could have just taken us 2 miles around Petite Piton in about 5 minutes.

The hike itself was uneventful. You have to walk through the village to the nature center where they collect the $30 per person fee and assign you a guide. There is absolutely no way you can sneak on the trail without paying, and there are enough guides walking up and down all the time that they would stop you if you didn't have a guide. It's quite silly because they could put up just a few trail markers, and the rest of the trail is extremely well defined, but it's how they support their economy so I don't see it changing any time soon.

I asked our guide what the average time was to climb the mountain: two hours up and two hours down. I then asked him what his personal record was, and he answered ONE hour. He took that as a personal challenge, and we were almost running up the "hill". We were on schedule to tie the record, but about halfway up the trail got really steep, and it was extremely hot, so we had to slow down. Total time to the top: a respectable 1:20. After a 20 minute rest break at the top, we took about 1:30 getting down, including a short detour to another overlook.

Our guide offered to drive us down to Jalousie Beach, but we had plenty of time so we decided to walk. He pointed us in the right direction, and we walked down a dirt road through a farm until it turned into a cement road going steeply down hill until we wound up at the gate for Jalousie Plantation (a very expensive hotel). Total distance (according to Google Earth) was only 1.6 miles and 700 vertical feet, so our taxi driver was full of it. If we were dropped off at the beach in the morning, all we would have had to do is follow the one and only road towards Gros Piton (it's not like you can miss it!) until we got to the village with the trailhead where a local would have pointed us in the right direction so that they could collect the hiking fee.

Jalousie Plantation was closed because of the hurricane damage, but there was a lot of construction activity. Almost everyone was very nice. The only exception was when we broke out the Celebrity towel and placed it in the shade made by one of their palm tree umbrellas. Normally I wouldn't do that, but considering the beach was EMPTY, and they had no guests, I thought they wouldn't mind. Apparently they did, because someone immediately rushed over and told me the hotel was under construction, and the "structures" were "unsafe". Yeah right. I then asked WHERE we could put our towel, and we finally negotiated to put it in one little spot with some shade from a palm tree. I've since read that the plantation doesn't seem to like the "all beaches are public" law, and is doing their best to discourage non-hotel visitors by forcing us into tiny sections, and prohibiting land taxis from driving in (which is why everyone goes by water taxi to the beach now).

Our water taxi arrived right on time with my snorkel gear, and then hung around while we snorkled a bit. Since we had plenty of time, instead of gunning back to the boat they took us on a less direct path in and out of the coves before dropping us off right behind the cruise ship.

If someone wants to hike Gros Piton, I would probably still recommend the water taxi over driving. It would be a LONG drive and a very tight schedule.

Make sure the water taxi drops you off at the Jalousie Beach dock:

13°49'42.51"N

61° 3'44.56"W

Turn right, and keep walking towards and to the left (inland) of Gros Piton. You literally can't miss it. The road is steep, but if you can't make it up to the trailhead, you don't have any shot of making it to the top of Gros Piton, so save yourself the $30 and go back and sit on the beach.

For your reference, the nature center/ trailhead is ROUGHLY at:

13°48'30.70"N

61° 3'37.51"W

Once you get close people will point you in the right direction.

I must emphasize that you need to be in really good physical condition, carry a watch, and know your limitations. Don't be afraid to turn around if time is getting too tight. It's also a good idea to bring your passport with you just in case.

Dennis

BTW: I heard different stories about climbing Petit Piton. It's more of a rock climb than a hike. Some people said it's possible and not that dangerous, while others said that because of a recent brush fire, and then the hurricane, it's practically suicidal and people have fallen to their death. I'll give it a few more years to recover before I attempt it.