Everyone loves St. Maarten for its beaches, restaurants and nightlife, but we might take the chains of green mountains for granted – we know we at the Health & Beauty do! That is why we have decided to take advantage of the over 20 miles of hiking trails that our island has to offer – and we’re taking our fellow adventurers along for the hike.
There are so many hiking trails on The Friendly Island, from coastal strolls to hikes in the hills, some leading to untouched beaches, others to glorious views of St. Maarten and other neighbouring islands. So, let’s go explore. Happy hiking!
This week’s heavenly hike takes us to the far northern part of the island to a place that most of our hiking group had never even heard of – Mont Red Rock. According to local legend, touching the red rocks ensures good luck – so, of course, we felt compelled to try this hike.
The path starts on the coast near the French dump. The hills here are known for their great diversity of fauna and flora and panoramic views of the North of St. Martin, Pinel, Tintamarre and some of the neighbouring islands.
Since none of us had done this hike before, looking for the start of the trail proved quite challenging. We parked our cars near the dump and looked for a way up the hills before us. Every time we thought we had found the trail, it would turn out to be a dead-end until we just clambered up the rocks and finally found the trail.
Once we had found the trail, it started off pretty easy. We had to walk down a broad dirt path, which eventually took us up the hill. But as we progressed, the trail sometimes got a bit tricky. It was clear to us that this was not a very popular hike, as some parts of the trail were quite overgrown. Thankfully, someone had painted orange markers on some rocks along the way, so we were able to find the way.
After over an hour of hiking, climbing, sweating and taking in the gorgeous views, we came to a massive (and slightly pinkish) rock perched on top of one of the hills and thought for sure that we had found the legendary red rock. This must be it!
But when our self-appointed trail guide (who, again, had never done the hike before) checked the digital trail map that an experienced trailblazer had sent him, we found out that we were only halfway there. We would have to hike another full hour before reaching the real red rock – and then over two hours back.
By this time, it was past 9:00am and the sun was blazing, meaning that we would have to walk back in the increasing heat. Besides, one of our hiking buddies was already feeling dizzy and nauseous because of the intense heat – and we reasoned that most of us would probably soon begin to feel the same.
So with some reluctance, we decided to turn back and go get some breakfast instead. We might not have touched the lucky rock, but that was nothing a fresh croissant and a cold mimosa couldn’t fix! We decided we would come prepared for a four-hour hike the next time around, starting out around 6:00am to beat the mid-morning heat. So stay tuned.
All in all, we still thoroughly enjoyed the hike and the views from our own apparently not-so-lucky rock. Though we did not make it to the top, we loved the half we did do and are looking forward to a successful return – and all that good luck.
