Things to do
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Boeri Lake
A crater lake at around eight hundred and fifty metres between Morne Macaque and Morne Trois Pitons, reached on a walk of about forty five minutes each way. The path climbs past hot and cold springs and is stepped in stone for much of its length. Cloud sits on the lake most afternoons, so morning walks see more of it.
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Boiling Lake
A flooded fumarole about sixty to seventy five metres across, the second largest of its kind on earth after Frying Pan Lake in New Zealand. The edges run between eighty two and ninety two degrees and the centre has never been measured.
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Middleham Falls
The tallest waterfall on Dominica at around eighty metres, reached on a rainforest path of an hour and a half to two hours each way. The ground is steep and slippery in places and the pool below it is cold.
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Morne Nicholls
The ridge crossed on the way to the Boiling Lake, and the hardest climb of that walk, rising to 966 metres above the Laudat valley. On a clear day the view runs down to the sea and across to Martinique. Most walkers reach it around two hours in, with the Valley of Desolation still ahead of them.
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Morne Trois Pitons National Park
Seven thousand hectares of rainforest, crater lakes and volcanic ground in the island's interior, inscribed by UNESCO in 1997. It holds the Boiling Lake, the Valley of Desolation, Middleham Falls, Titou Gorge and the Emerald Pool. Entry to the sites is ticketed, and the walking starts from Laudat or from the transinsular road at Pont Casse.
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Titou Gorge
A narrow freshwater slot at the Boiling Lake trailhead, entered by swimming between rock walls barely wider than a swimmer, with a hot spring running in beside the cold water. A scene from Pirates of the Caribbean was shot here. The current pushes against swimmers on the way in, and the gorge closes when the river runs high.
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Valley of Desolation
Bare volcanic ground streaked yellow, orange and white lies on the way to the Boiling Lake, venting steam with hot streams running across the path. The crust gives way underfoot in places, which is one reason a guide is required on this route. Nothing grows in the basin itself, and the crossing comes in the middle of a long day out from Laudat.
