Visiting Jack & Alex
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 10.34 mi
- Elevation gain
- 2,746 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 2,746 ft
- Max elevation
- 4,347 ft
- TrailRank
- 33
- Min elevation
- 2,000 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Coordinates
- 1353
- Uploaded
- August 30, 2015
- Recorded
- August 2015
near Maligue, Ouest (Ayiti)
Viewed 880 times, downloaded 8 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
This hike takes you from the outskirts of Petionville up the mountains. Along the way, you'll pass by the 2 forts: Fort Jacque and Fort Alexandre (hence the somewhat mangled name of this hike).
From the starting point, the first 6 kilometre of the hike is a steady climb up. It levels out from time to time, but most of it is up at quite a descent angle on unpaved roads with plenty of loose rocks.
But the track is very easy to follow and there are almost no time where you leave the main road up.
After around 2 hours or 6 km, at the indicated waypoints, you'll find Fort Jacques that was being restored at the time we hiked there and could (officially) not be visited on the inside. Please note that you will find several people around the fort that want to tell you all about it and if you want to get the full story, please enjoy, but do expect to pay them a few Gourds afterwards. Personally, we found them a bit intrusive and pushy and didn't stay too long at the fort.
In less then 1km, you get to the other fort: Fort Alexandre. Usually there are no guides there and if the weather cooperates you'll have a great view over Port-au-Prince and wide surroundings. We would recommend to take a break here and enjoy the view. This is also the highest point of the hike.
The remaining 10 km (2.5hr) back to the starting point, are mostly down hill following similar unpaved roads the way up. But as this road is almost twice as long as the way up, it is less steep. When you get around 2km from the starting point, there will be a few up and downs on the track, but these are quite short and should not be too heavy.
Please note that this track could also be done with a mountain bike, motorbike or even a 4WD car if you are a bit experienced, but I certainly believe it's best enjoyed on foot.
More information on the forts can be found here:
https://postcardsfromhaiti.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/forts-jacques-alexandre-sugar-cane-park/
(and I may give you a different idea about the guides)
or here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Jacques_et_Fort_Alexandre
From the starting point, the first 6 kilometre of the hike is a steady climb up. It levels out from time to time, but most of it is up at quite a descent angle on unpaved roads with plenty of loose rocks.
But the track is very easy to follow and there are almost no time where you leave the main road up.
After around 2 hours or 6 km, at the indicated waypoints, you'll find Fort Jacques that was being restored at the time we hiked there and could (officially) not be visited on the inside. Please note that you will find several people around the fort that want to tell you all about it and if you want to get the full story, please enjoy, but do expect to pay them a few Gourds afterwards. Personally, we found them a bit intrusive and pushy and didn't stay too long at the fort.
In less then 1km, you get to the other fort: Fort Alexandre. Usually there are no guides there and if the weather cooperates you'll have a great view over Port-au-Prince and wide surroundings. We would recommend to take a break here and enjoy the view. This is also the highest point of the hike.
The remaining 10 km (2.5hr) back to the starting point, are mostly down hill following similar unpaved roads the way up. But as this road is almost twice as long as the way up, it is less steep. When you get around 2km from the starting point, there will be a few up and downs on the track, but these are quite short and should not be too heavy.
Please note that this track could also be done with a mountain bike, motorbike or even a 4WD car if you are a bit experienced, but I certainly believe it's best enjoyed on foot.
More information on the forts can be found here:
https://postcardsfromhaiti.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/forts-jacques-alexandre-sugar-cane-park/
(and I may give you a different idea about the guides)
or here: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Jacques_et_Fort_Alexandre
Waypoints
Castle
4,234 ft
Fort Jacques
Car park
2,017 ft
Parking
This is a great place to park the car. Don't leave anything valuable...
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