Mount Pelé via Grande Savane

Please note that this route appears to be closed and not maintained!
Fortunately, I decided to take the normal route from the Aileron refuge in Morne Rouge, discouraged by comments about the state of this route through Grande Savanne. It is probably possible with a machete, but otherwise impassable. At the Caldeira, you will come across this route, which is clearly marked as closed. For all intents and purposes...

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Date of your route : Jun 10, 2025
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Superb route, even though the road was closed (collapse) 4 km before the starting point. Start at 50 m altitude.
The savannah is amazing and lush, but unfortunately when I reached the summit I couldn't see anything due to the 8°C temperature, rain and wind, whereas on the way back to Le Prêcheur it was 32°C and sunny.

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Very simple:
Road closed!
And we're not talking about a simple fence to climb over... but barriers on the road 2 km from the start of the hike.
No information about when the road will reopen.

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The path is closed by order of the prefecture until June 2025.

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Date of your route : Mar 22, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

Hike completed the day after the Aileron version. The road to the car park climbs steeply, but it's no problem. I much preferred the Grande Savane access because the sky is much clearer than on the Aileron side, so you get to enjoy it much more. It's also less crowded. From the car park to the caldera: 50 minutes. From the caldera to Le Chinois: also 50 minutes. I went straight back down because I had already done the tour via the caldera the day before. From Prêcheur, there is another hiking trail that goes up to the car park, 5.5 km and 700 m elevation gain, so it can be a nice combo to Le Chinois.

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Date of your route : Dec 26, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good
Very busy route : No

After 5 km on a narrow concrete road, the start is as described, in the shade under the trees, but the path is slippery and muddy in places (it had rained the night before) and invisible under the grass. It becomes more chaotic as you climb towards the ridge. Large slippery stones and holes hidden by the grass force you to deviate from the path. Magnificent view of St Pierre Bay and the hills on either side. That day, we enjoyed a clear view of the mountain and the surrounding area throughout the hike. Arriving at the path that goes around the caldera at 1155m, the path is better and leads to the second refuge (abandoned and dirty) with a continuous view of the crater and the 1902 cone. Just after the second refuge, we descend into a breach in the rampart (be careful of the slippery descent) and take the steep path, again among the rocks forming high steps, to the summit of 1902. Arriving at the third refuge (also abandoned), we leave the "Chinese" and begin the descent to the car park. While the climb was fairly good despite the slope, the descent proved to be chaotic and very slippery. We can only recommend the utmost caution and finishing the last few metres on the newly built concrete track on the left to avoid the invisible trail at the start. For your information, when we arrived, the fire brigade was rescuing two hikers (one with a sprain and one with a broken leg) who had fallen in the last 30 metres of this path. A beautiful hike, not very busy on this short route with a clear view of the whole mountain on that day. Stay alert on the slippery path and wear good footwear with walking sticks.

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Date of your route : Sep 30, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

xxxxx

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Date of your route : Dec 26, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Hike done this week.
As mentioned previously, there is a fairly rough stretch of road to drive to reach the starting point. But don't worry, it's fine!
Once we got to the top, we were surprised to find a big construction site. Maybe a restaurant for hikers or something else? In any case, it was surprising in the middle of this vast "nothingness".
The hike: true to the description: it takes about an hour to reach the caldera (1 hour 10 minutes for us without dawdling too much, but we're not very athletic).
It was quite slippery at the start: muddy. At the end, it climbs quite a bit for the last 20 minutes. We had to use our hands two or three times. Overall, it's fairly easy and suitable for families.
Once you reach the caldera, you have three choices:
- turn back, about an hour's descent.
- Continue towards "Le Chinois".
- Walk around or part of the way around the caldera before returning (which is what we did since it was cloudy).

We left quite early and didn't regret it: the weather changes quickly. We were glad it was overcast at times.

We worked up a good sweat, we didn't see the top but we had some beautiful views of the island. We were happy with our trip.

Enjoy your walk, everyone!

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Date of your route : Aug 13, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Start of the hike at 6:30 a.m., already difficulties parking
The road from La Charmeuse to the car park was in poor condition.
On that day, Mount Pelé was shrouded in clouds.
It took me an hour to climb up to the caldera with two short breaks
Then it took me 45 minutes to climb up to the third refuge
Superb views of Saint Pierre and Le Prêcheur
1 hour 15 minutes for the descent with numerous photo breaks
Total time = 3 hours
Highly recommended equipment: walking sticks

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Hiking forecast for April!

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Date of your route : Feb 18, 2017
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Hello,

The climb via Grande Savane is undoubtedly a little easier than via Aileron, but access by car is more complicated. The road was marked as closed to all but residents. It is sometimes very steep and very narrow.

If you have two cars or can split into two groups, you could consider climbing via the Aileron and descending via the Grande Savane (the descent is a little shorter and easier than via the Aileron when descending the western side of the volcano).

Arnaud

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