TROUS-MATELOTS TRAIL
Here you are in front of a hike of a good level (10 km - 2 hours of walk) which offers you a beautiful immersion in the green of the north of Martinique (hygrophilic vegetation, with breathtaking colors and possibility to meet a tarantula) but also the possibility to fly to the river for a moment of refreshment at the bend of a rather unknown path.
Take the Route de la Trace to the Fond-Saint-Denis Deux-Choux crossroads. Follow the D1 to the right until kilometre point 19. A small rustic sign indicates "Trace de Trous-Matelots vers Desgrange". You go into the forest on a path maintained by the ONF. No signpost. The altitude is 620 m. We descend slowly (tree ferns, bamboos and white gum trees). A few tens of meters later, a clearing with red porcelain roses and a small dreary covered with markers. On the left, you can hear the rumbling of a river: after a 200 m difference in altitude, you reach the Deux-Bras gully in 40 minutes. Two solutions: the short track (fork on the left and head towards Falaise-Isaïe) or take a right towards Duchesnetaux and cross the Lézarde river before joining the forest road la Palourde. It is better to take the first one because the second one is very busy. From coast 421 to coast 540, there is a 120 m slope (difficult ascent, unmaintained path, river): it leads to the national road. There are 4 km to go on the asphalt (the least pleasant part) to get back to the starting point.
