All activities / Trekking / Hiking / Black River Gorges National Park
Trekking / Hiking in Black River Gorges National Park
The largest national park in Mauritius and the last stronghold of its native forest, covering the mountainous south-west interior. Its trails climb through dense endemic woodland to gorge viewpoints and waterfalls, and it shelters birds found nowhere else on earth, among them the Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon and echo parakeet, all brought back from the brink of extinction.
Why here
Black River Gorges is where you walk through what is left of the real Mauritius, the wet upland forest that once covered the island before the sugarcane. Trails thread more than sixty kilometres of native woodland across the park, from short walks to the Black River Peak, the island's highest point at 828 metres, down into the gorge itself and its river pools. This is the last refuge of species that exist nowhere else: the Mauritius kestrel, once down to four wild birds and now hunting over these ridges again, the soft-pink pink pigeon, and the noisy green echo parakeet, alongside flying-fox colonies and endemic ebony and tambalacoque trees. The most walked routes run from the Petrin and Black River visitor centres, taking in the Macchabee forest ridge and viewpoints that drop away over the whole south-west of the island to the sea. Come in the dry winter months and the trails are firm and the panoramas clear; the forest is quiet, birdsong-heavy and, for an island better known for its beaches, a completely different Mauritius.
Best months
The best walking is in the cooler, drier austral winter from around May to October, when the trails are firmer and the long viewpoints over the gorge are clearest; the summer months are hotter, wetter and leave the paths muddy and slippery. Park entry is free and there are two main gateways, Petrin on the high plateau and the Black River visitor centre in the west. Some routes are steep on the descent into the gorge, and the longer traverses take most of a day, so carry water and start early. Native birds are most active in the early morning.
Getting there & around
The park sits in the south-west interior, about 25 minutes from Chamarel, 30 from Flic en Flac and 15 from Tamarin. The western Black River entrance and the higher Petrin entrance give access to different trail networks, and the classic traverse links the two, so a guide or a car shuttle helps if you walk it one-way. Entry is free; a guide is optional but worth it for the endemic birds and to keep to the marked routes. There is no public transport to the trailheads, so arrange a car or a guided pickup.
Skill levels: beginner, intermediate
Schools & guides (2)
Yanature
GuideYanature is a Mauritian guiding outfit that specialises in hiking the Black River Gorges, leading walks through the park's endemic rainforest to its gorge viewpoints and river pools. Its guides know where to find the rare native birds, including the pink pigeon and echo parakeet, and read the forest's plants and history along the way. Routes range from short family walks to the longer one-way traverse down through the gorge, finishing with an optional swim in the river.
Yemaya Adventures
GuideYemaya Adventures was set up in 2000 by Patrick Haberland, a certified guide and former competitive cyclist, and runs guided hikes, sea kayaking and mountain biking across Mauritius. In the Black River Gorges it leads the Macchabee forest trail, a roughly twelve-kilometre route along the ridge above the gorge through native forest rich in birdlife. Groups are kept small, its guides hold first-aid qualifications, and the company carries a sustainable-tourism certification.