La Soufriere Volcano Trail

Experience a fabulous opportunity to capture the volcanic nature of our island by taking a tour to La Soufriere, one of the most studied volcanoes in the world, which rises to a peak of 4048 ft. above sea level.

This tour takes you along the picturesque Windward coast of St. Vincent. The coastal highway runs alongside the Atlantic Ocean passing through banana, coconut and arrowroot plantations, and travels through the Byera Tunnel, which was built in 1813 to open the Carib lands to settlement.

The road to La Soufriere leaves the coastal highway at Rabacca and travels through the Orange Hill banana and coconut plantation to where the foot trail begins a 2.5 hour exhilarating and challenging hike with resting points at the river bed and Jacobs Well.

The foot trail leads you through a canopy of bamboo ridges, lowland forest with patches of cultivation and then into tropical forest with a profusion of tree ferns, tall trees festooned with bromeliads, lianas and moist shade dappled with sunlight. You emerge from the shade into a zone of vegetation stunted by altitude, breeze and frequent cloud cover and continue to an alpine-like zone before the last stretch of scree to the crater itself.

The view is breathtaking and well worth the hike. Lunch is eaten at the top of the volcano while enjoying the panoramic view. The journey down is less challenging and takes about 1.5 hours.

There are four types of volcano tours as listed below :

1. The above tour.
2. The above tour with an extra 45-minute hike to the new crater for swimming and a mineral mud bath.
3. The above tour including an adventurous hike by rope into the crater.
4. The above tour, then a hike around the rim of the crater down to the Leeward side of the island, which offers an all-round island tour. Approx. 7 hours hiking.

Climate And Clothing

The climate at La Soufriere is tropical and humid with frequent, though short, rain showers.

For hiking-shorts and t-shirts are recommended. Ordinary outdoor shoes or sneakers will do in most situations. A light jacket, sweater or long-sleeve shirt is often required for comfort at the top of the volcano. A change of clothing is advisable in case of rain.

Health

All persons should ensure they are in good physical health before attempting this hike.