The Col Yang Ting, an adventure in the rainforest.

Welcome to the municipality of Fond Saint-Denis, located in the North Island near Mount Pelee. An observatory (Morne des Cadets) was built in particular to monitor volcanic activity. This town, away from others, is connected to the municipalities of Fort-de-France and Saint-Pierre by the Route de la Trace which has many treasures (hiking, baths in the river with the reception area of Alma , the Cascade du Saut du Gendarme or the Jesuit Trace hike and its “water hole”.

Another treasure of this territory, a hike not really known that allows to climb to the top of the Yangtze Pass

The hike of the Col Yang Ting takes you into a hygrophilous forest and brings you on its top. The trail is accessible to people with good physical condition (unserviced trail and difficult access trail at the end) with a distance of 5.6 kilometers (round trip)  you will need  2:30 to 3:00. You will have a positive elevation gain of 250 m with a beautiful hill to climb in the forest. On the way back, the climb will be steeper. If you are doing the hike with other people, choose to put a vehicle on each side of the hike to avoid the return.

Itinerary

To access to the start of this hike, from Fort-de-France, join the A1 then the D41 to take the exit towards Balata (N3). This road also called Balata road will take you to the heights of Martinique with many bends. You will see as you go, a hygrophilous vegetation that will be more and more lush and dense around you. You will have to drive a good half an hour to Alma’s reception area then continue on the Trace road (always the N3 towards Morne Rouge) until the intersection with the D1 road where you go on the left towards the commune of Fonds-Saint-Denis. Go down the road (many turns) to reach the village church of the municipality of Fonds-Saint-Denis. You will see at the beginning of this road the parking to discover the Cascade du Saut du Gendarme

Col Yang Ting

Park down the church near the stairs.

Here you are at the starting point of the hike. You will not have too much trouble to park because this hike is not really known.

Tip: choose to put a vehicle on each side of the hike to avoid the return.

Take the stairs and head to the left to start the first meters of this hike. The path is steep and you will follow the school of the town to the sports fields.

Enjoy the view of the surrounding hills during your ascent to the sports plateau.

On your way you will occasionally see breadfruits. You will have the chance to taste it in many creole dishes.

At the end of the road, take the road that goes right after the house. You are on the road and you must continue your way to a bus shelter.

Go to the left in an alley lined with houses. At the end of this alley, end of the road, take the  path that goes down in the valley.

At the bottom of the path, you must take on your left, the vegetation is quite dense, the path is not very visible

Wrong way!  Do not follow (see photos above). If you arrive at the level of this tin shed it means that you have gone too far.

Continue going down the valley, you will see color codes on the trees indicating that you are on the correct way.

You will cross a first small stream and a second wider. We see again the color code.

After crossing this second stream, turn to your right. You will then begin your ascent to Col Yang Ting.

Beware of the risk of slipping, the terrain is uneven in places!

On your way, you will see this sign, indicating that you are on the domain of the Saint James Departmental Forest located between the municipalities of Fonds-Saint-Denis and Morne Rouge

The path continues to climb until you reach the top of the pass. You can observe a slight panorama of the valley through the vegetation. You are between Morne Lacroix and Morne Fumé.

All you have to do is continue your way through the vegetation and gradually descend to a clearing. This is when the hike is complicated because with the last hurricane many trees fell and the end of the course no longer exists.

You will have to immerse yourself through the vegetation. Your goal is to find a fence (photos below) that you must follow to complete this hike.

When you arrive at the level of the road of Champflore, here you are at the end of the hike.

You just have to go back or in the best case, take your vehicle to make the return.

Panorama on the way back from the hike (sports plateau)

Tips

Ø Circulation in Martinique:  During the weeks you will encounter many traffic jams from 7 a.m. to 9. 30 a.m. in the industrial and commercial areas. Especially mornings driving from south (Rivière Salée, N5) to the North (Fort-de-France, A1), but also East (Robert , N1) going North , you will find the same traffic jams every evening on the other side from 5 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. Tip, think of the way and time you want to travel in order not to lose time.

Ø Equipment: Good pair of tennis shoes that grips or hiking shoes, hiking stick, sportswear (high socks to avoid stinging plants), hiking bag (knife, flashlight, headlamp, k-way, cap, bezel sun, sunscreen, anti-mosquito product).

Ø Health:
– Difficulty: 6 out of 10, walking with elevation gain (path not maintained, difficult end of course). Beware of roots and slippery terrain.

– In normal times, always start hiking at the earliest in the morning. The daytime heat during minimal sports activity can become quite stifling. This hike is shaded. (Beware of the risks of slipping)
– Take your time and  plan how much time you need depending on your physical condition.

– Most important thing always a bottle of water per person and a snack in your bag. With the heat, all fairly physical hikes can be dangerous with fatigue.

Others: you can discover nearby, the Cascade du Saut du Gendarme, the Alma forest, or go for the Jesuit Trace hike and swim in the “Trou d’eau“.

Do not hesitate to post you commentaries or to ask for information on contact@domloisirsetculture.fr.

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Dom Loisirs et Culture at your service.

OLIVIER Damien, your humble guide

The Dom Loisirs and Culture team is committed to raising awareness of the protection of the biodiversity of the overseas departments.