Hiking – The Botanical Trail of the Petite Plaine

Difficulty: average
Duration with young child: 1h10
Region: Est / Plaine des Palmistes
To get there :
– Go to La Plaine des Palmistes  then follow the direction of Bébour. After crossing the picnic area turn right (Bébour sign). When you arrive at the junction where you see Bras Noir on the right, you have to go slightly to the left and park in the parking places.

GPS coordinates: Starting point in Waze

Notre expérience de la randonnée du sentier Botanique de la Petite Plaine

We decided to make this hike a day of gray and light rain.
First of all difficult to find the beginning of the trail, because the indications we had did not take into account the recent road changes.

So when we crossed La Plaine des Palmistes, we must take the direction of Bébour, and when we arrive at the junction where we see Bras Noir on the right, we must go slightly to the left and we arrives at the beginning of the path where you can park the car.

The weather is not very good for hiking, but we still go there. Lilo, the 21-month-old is in the baby carrier and Lila, the little girl of 3 and a half is happy to put on her hiking shoes!

The trail starts with big steps. And we already arrive at an information panel where are indicated the loop of the botanical trail and the waterfall.

We decide to go to the waterfall and then make the loop

The trail is a little slippery because of the rain. We avoid walking on roots and rocks.
In 10 minutes you reach the end of the trail. We hear the waterfall, but we do not see it. The trail is very steep to try the descent to the waterfall … So for the waterfall, it falls in the water! We decide to make sure that we are safe and to go back slightly to start the loop of the botanical trail.

At the beginning of the trail, we feel that it starts to rise! Lila is delighted to be able to ride and asks for help when the steps are too big.
Soon we start to get a little warmer!

The landscape is not very varied: trees, ferns, leaves on the ground, slippery roots …

At times we cross large plastic bags that litter the ground … (kind tarpaulins of 3 meters by 3 meters) that cover something … In our minds of horror movies we imagined the worst … Hey Well if you want to know what discovery we made under these tarps … you just have to do this hike … I’m kidding … I’ll tell you later!

Some passages are difficult to access: tree trunks are a little low, which requires bending … and with the baby gate on the back, it makes work the legs!

We feel that the road is turning and that we are doing the loop. The trail descends slowly, less abruptly than the climb (hence the need to make the loop in the right direction!)

At a certain point you come across a small bridge to facilitate a passage. (Finally something visually different during this hike!)

At the end of the hike, you come across a little bunker-style house (haha … as in horror movies)
By the way, do you want to know what was under the tarpaulins? Go patenties a few more moments …

Picnic with at La Plaine des Palmistes

The trail ends when you drop on the billboard.

We planned to picnic and in the end, we came across a small round table on the left that we had not seen during the climb.

In conclusion

Lila was really happy to do this hike. We were expecting a more varied landscape, because it was very monotonous … but it is still a pleasant for a walk in the forest.
Remember to take good hiking shoes to slip as little as possible and warm clothes.

And if you go up to the waterfall, do not hesitate to send us the pictures!

In fact, under the big tarpaulins we crossed during the hike, there were simply some logs … Anodines? Ha good on a tiny path in the middle of the forest? Who can do that? Because Dad was not clever when it came to go see what he was hiding under his tarps to be sure it was not something else!

In short a nice walk, but without extraordinary flora … a height for a “botanical trail”!

More about this hike : https://randopitons.re/randonnee/1157-sentier-botanique-petite-plaine