Drive to Pic La Selle

This track will bring you as close as possible to the summit of the mountain "La Selle", the highest mountain in Haiti.

To get to the actual peak, you'll need to walk a few kilometer and use another track also published here on Wikiloc, but this is the part you need to drive there.

Track for the hike to the summit: http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=11300693

The start of the drive is in Marigot where you'll see the last few meters of paved road. After that, you'll see mostly dirt road and therefore a proper 4WD car is needed as well as some off-road experience. There is a reasonable possibility that you may get stuck in the mud further up the trail, so a winch on your car would be good or even better, go with 2 cars and use a tow road to get you out when needed.

Soon after you leave town, the first adventure will be a river crossing. Obviously this may be easy during the dry season, but could not impossible after a heavy rain shower. A bridge is being constructed, but not sure when it will be open.

Either way, from here you will probably drive in 4WD mode.

The first 30km are on the unpaved "main" road between Marigot and Belle Anse, so here the road is usually a bit wider and at some places where you snake up or down the mountain, you may find a few meters of concrete road. This part of the road will take you at least 1 hour, possibly a bit longer. Most of the scene is not that different from other places in Haiti: You come through small villages and see some small shops etc.

From the waypoint "Left Turn", you leave the larger road to take a much more narrow road up the mountain. Even though there is just 1 road for most of the time, it's still good to keep an eye on the GPS from time to time.

The scene will start to drastically change: You climb quite a bit more and there are open fields and great views (if the weather permits). There are a few houses along the way, but a lot less.

The next almost 30km will take you at least 2 hours and will test your driving skills as well as your shock absorbers.

Around 10km before the endpoint of this trail, you pass by the forest (ranger) station. You may want to have a chat there and check if there is anything you need to know about the last 10km or about the hike.

Then, for the last part of the drive, the road gets actually a bit better.

After the ranger station, you will pass by a newly constructed building on your right hand and later you will see a similar building on your left hand. This is the end of the track. From here you can start the shortest hike to the summit of the Pic La Selle.

If you have the time, you may want to park at the forest station and start you hike to the peak from there.

Also note that there is lodging available just next to the forest station. This will allow you to drive here, overnight at the lodge, hike the summit and drive back the next day.

Contact details for the lodge: +509 3788 5471 (Mr. Theard) or +509 4646 3445 (Arnold).
But note that the cell phone reception in the area may not always work so you may need to try a few time.