Elevation: 300 meters
Duration : 3 to 4 hrs
Level : Difficult
Duration : 3 to 4 hrs
Level : Difficult
Sugar loaf hill stands between Falmouth bay and Rendez-vous bay, just to the right of the Famlouth/ Rdzvous track. It is a cone shaped mountain, quite steep to climb and with no or indistinct trails leading to the summit. It is an isolated walk on difficult terrain.
This is the route I took to the top and back down; probably not the easiest or the shortest. Any new route or input on this is welcome.
Take the track from Falmouth to Rendez-vous bay; it starts by the horse riding stables. As you reach the pass on the ridge separating the two bays, you wil see on the right hand side a hut and a few banana trees in a small clearing; there is also a small murky pond. This is right on the pass over the ridge.
Leave the track here. There is a vague path through the trees behind the pond, that you can follow for a few hundred meters. You will then start to climb steeply towards the top of the hill, crossing a succession of clear patches and denser bush. You will have to find your own way as you climb. Not easy but feasable; a machete makes life easier but is not essential.
The climb takes about an hour or so, on a steep and sometime loose slope; once close to the top, there are some seemingly impassable bushes and cactis. Aim for the forrest to the right and you will find a passage through the trees.
The view is better slightly before the sumnmit as there is too much vegetation at the top to have a good 360.
But, but, but, there is a path up there, a well defined clear path leading downhill in a northerly direction towards Liberta village. When I did the walk the path was full of Hermit Crabs inside their magpie shells, some bigger then a fist, shrinking back in their shell at my approach and rolling down the hill as they did so. Respect these strange creatures as they can live up to 40 years, are quite social and are an extroardinary mixture of land and sea animals.
This path remained very clear for a few hundreds yards, before becoming faint. From then on, I followed the best route downhill I could find; it is possible that the main trail continues all the way down. The last clear sighting of the track I had was on a grassy opening high above the gully between Sugar Loaf Hill and the Liberta ridge. I scrambled down the mountain to the bottom of the gully, which I followed towards the sea till I reached a clearing where a man was collecting wood and making charcoal. I climbed on the northern edge of the gully and reached a small road in a residential area between Liberta and Falmouth.
The round trip Falmouth/ Falmouth took me about 4 hours.
This is the route I took to the top and back down; probably not the easiest or the shortest. Any new route or input on this is welcome.
Take the track from Falmouth to Rendez-vous bay; it starts by the horse riding stables. As you reach the pass on the ridge separating the two bays, you wil see on the right hand side a hut and a few banana trees in a small clearing; there is also a small murky pond. This is right on the pass over the ridge.
Leave the track here. There is a vague path through the trees behind the pond, that you can follow for a few hundred meters. You will then start to climb steeply towards the top of the hill, crossing a succession of clear patches and denser bush. You will have to find your own way as you climb. Not easy but feasable; a machete makes life easier but is not essential.
The climb takes about an hour or so, on a steep and sometime loose slope; once close to the top, there are some seemingly impassable bushes and cactis. Aim for the forrest to the right and you will find a passage through the trees.
The view is better slightly before the sumnmit as there is too much vegetation at the top to have a good 360.
But, but, but, there is a path up there, a well defined clear path leading downhill in a northerly direction towards Liberta village. When I did the walk the path was full of Hermit Crabs inside their magpie shells, some bigger then a fist, shrinking back in their shell at my approach and rolling down the hill as they did so. Respect these strange creatures as they can live up to 40 years, are quite social and are an extroardinary mixture of land and sea animals.
This path remained very clear for a few hundreds yards, before becoming faint. From then on, I followed the best route downhill I could find; it is possible that the main trail continues all the way down. The last clear sighting of the track I had was on a grassy opening high above the gully between Sugar Loaf Hill and the Liberta ridge. I scrambled down the mountain to the bottom of the gully, which I followed towards the sea till I reached a clearing where a man was collecting wood and making charcoal. I climbed on the northern edge of the gully and reached a small road in a residential area between Liberta and Falmouth.
The round trip Falmouth/ Falmouth took me about 4 hours.