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Dos d'Ane - Cap Noir - Roche Verre Bouteille

Walking/pedestrian in La Possession
2.9 km
Loop
Walking/pedestrian
2h
Medium
  • Dos D’Ane is a small village in a mini cirque in the hills above La Possession. It's the starting point for three major paths. These are the Dos d’Ane wall, a path that begins after the church and takes you through Mafate by descending into Deux Bras, the Grand Coin path which goes to Roche Ecrite or Plaine d’Affouches via the Dos d’Ane ridge, and the Piton Grand Bazar path which takes you more directly to Plaine d’Affouches. This path was once used to to carry supplies from Saint-Denis....
    Dos D’Ane is a small village in a mini cirque in the hills above La Possession. It's the starting point for three major paths. These are the Dos d’Ane wall, a path that begins after the church and takes you through Mafate by descending into Deux Bras, the Grand Coin path which goes to Roche Ecrite or Plaine d’Affouches via the Dos d’Ane ridge, and the Piton Grand Bazar path which takes you more directly to Plaine d’Affouches. This path was once used to to carry supplies from Saint-Denis. After the war bags of maize weighing 30 kilos were transported on men's backs. It's a really lovely place, but the clouds build up there very quickly. It's better to climb to the ridge before 10am so as not to miss the magnificent viewpoints over the cirque of Mafate. This loop from Roche Verre Bouteille is a small walk which will take you via Cap Noir, a promontory opening up to spectacular panoramic views over the cirque of Mafate. First you follow the edge of la Rivière des Galets rampart with impressive views over the deep valley. On the other side, the canalisation des Orangers can be made out lower down on the opposite rampart like a horizontal line. Spend some time at the kiosk on Cap Noir where an orientation table will help you to identify the different places in front of you. You can admire the Bras des Merles valley between the Aurère ridge to right and the Marianne ridge to the left. The path which bears the same name descends to the bottom of this valley and is now open. An NFO panel will also give you some information about the settlement of Mafate. The path continues and then climbs in the direction of the ridge with several sections of well secured metal ladders before reaching Roche Verre Bouteille. This vertical rock looks like a bottle inlaid with translucent yellowish green colour crystals or olivines. Moving across this portion of the Dos d'Ane ridge is impressive, but can be done quite safely. You can see the cirque of Mafate on one side and Dos d'Ane on the other and further away the cities of La Possession and Le Port.
    It's best not to take animals with you because the four ladder sections are not really made for them. Make the most of the extraordinary panorama on the ridge to enjoy a picnic, but make sure you don't leave your rubbish behind. Keep the place clean.
  • Departure
    La Possession
  • Difference in height
    444.01 m
  • Equipment
    Gourd, raincoat, hiking shoes, energy food, sunscreen, flashlight, hat, detailed maps.
  • Documentation
    GPX / KML files allow you to export the trail of your hike to your GPS (or other navigation tool)
Points of interest
How to reach the start
The Cap Noir car park is accessible by car. From the north or south, follow the signs to Le Port and exit at the Rivière des Galets roundabout, near the hypermarket. When you go into la Rivière des Galets, take the first road on the right at the next roundabout, follow the signs to Dos D’Ane. Go through Dos D’Ane to the Cap Noir junction on the right and continue to the car park.
0 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 0,2 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 0,7 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 0,7 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 0,7 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 1,7 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 1,8 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 2,0 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 2,4 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir 2,7 km : Dos D'Ane - Cap Noir
Steps
0 km - After having parked your vehicle, climb up the mound above the car park and at junction 1 you can choose the direction of the loop. It's better to set off to the right. The climb is less harsh than to the left.

0.2 km - The path descends gently overlooking la Rivière des Galets and in front you can see the first ramparts of Mafate.

0.6 km - You will reach the guardrail protecting you from a vertiginous drop directly above Deux Bras. The viewpoint over la Rivière des Galets is magnificent. A few metres further on, take the time to admire one of the most beautiful views of Mafate. The ridges of Marianne and Aurère are in front of you.

0.9 km - A bit of up and down after the kiosk before reaching the first ladder. The ladders are securely embedded in the rock so you don't need to worry about climbing them.

1.7 km - You will reach fork 2. The path on the right follows the Mafate rampart to the Roche Ecrite refuge. A panel indicates that the path straight ahead goes down to Grand Coin, in the village of Dos d’Ane. Take the path on the left which climbs up and after a few metres you will reach Roche Verre Bouteille.

1.8 km - Climb up a hairpin bend and you reach an extraordinary viewpoint over the mini cirque of Dos d’Ane. The path now continues on the ridge and while climbing you can see the village of Dos d’Ane on the right and the cirque of Mafate on the left.

2.1 km - After leaving the orientation table the path is almost flat. Further on, there's a bench where you can sit and enjoy the view of the west coast and the city of Le Port.

2.4 km - Then the path starts to descend quite steeply, with two small ladder sections.

2.8 km - The end of the descent, you are back at junction 1, then the car park.
444 meters of difference in height
  • Start altitude : 1150 m
  • End altitude : 1152 m
  • Maximum altitude : 1239 m
  • Minimum altitude : 900 m
  • Total positive elevation : 444 m
  • Total negative elevation : -442 m
  • Max positive elevation : 181 m
  • Min positive elevation : -252 m