Carriacou - Chapeau Carre

This hike takes you to the second highest peak in Carriacou at 945 feet – the highest hill is apparently only a foot higher. You can see Chapeau Carre from the anchorage in Tyrell Bay. We did the ascent in sturdy sandals, which was fine - the view from the top is spectacular.

Start from the main road in Tyrell Bay and go up the road next to Scraper’s Bar which heads away from the bay in an easterly direction. It is a long straight road and, after about half a mile, it bends to the right at a school. Turn left and walk up the side of the school. (There is a magnificent “Flamboyant Tree” between the school buildings which is worth a look if it is in bloom.)

The road turns into a dirt road, continue up past a house on the left – this had a snarling dog when we walked past so a stick might be handy. You walk up towards another house, but the road bends sharply to the left just before you reach the house. The road now climbs up into the forest which is very pleasant.

After about ten minutes, you come into a small clearing where a track goes off to the left – keep straight ahead and after 200 metres start to look out for a small path on your left. It is very hard to spot being partially overgrown and the path goes up and back parallel to the road.  If you get to a house on the left, then you've gone too far and the path is about 120 paces back up the road.  (Note: in Nov 2018, there was a fallen tree blocking the path, so you'll have to skirt around it.  Watch out for a Nasty Plant, which has a five lobe leaf - it give a powerful sting...)

The path goes up to some abandoned buildings, keep to the left of the buildings and go around the back of them where the path goes steeply straight up the hill for about ten metres before turning to the left. From here the path is under the trees and good most of the time, but becomes faint in places - if in doubt go up.

You will eventually come to a clearing near the top of the hill where you should bear to the right along a faint path that follows a ridge. You don’t get a nice view yet because of the trees. Keep as high on the ridge as you can and, after about 50-100 metres, the faint path appears to end at some bushes, but if you look to the left you will see a path going down into the trees.

Follow this path down a short distance and then follow it up to the top of the peak where there is a clearing and you will have magnificent view of Carriacou and the outlying islands.

The route down is directly opposite the route up and follows the line of a ridge. From the summit walk down a steep path which soon disappears into trees. The path is marked (for people coming up) by red arrows painted on the trees and rocks, so it is difficult to go wrong. It’s steep in places so use the trees and vines for support. Eventually you will come out into a clearing where you should head to your right and down a little to pick up the path again.

From here it is a matter of following the path down, which is faint in places. We skirted around a small pond and continued to walk down the fields until we popped out onto a road at a junction. We took the obvious road down and towards the west and ended up on the main road just past the oil storage tanks.

It took us about 1¼ hours to get to the top and 1 hour down. It would be possible to reverse the route and go up the ridge, but it would be a steep ascent near the top.