Foret des Pins

Foret des Pins covers the high ground between Fonds-Verrettes and the border, and it is what most of Haiti's mountains looked like before the charcoal trade: open stands of Hispaniolan pine over grass and needle litter, cool, dry-smelling and quiet. It is a forest reserve rather than a national park, managed loosely, and the pressure on it is constant. Walking here is easy compared with the cloud forest, and the altitude keeps the temperature down through the day.

What you actually see

• The pine stands - mature Hispaniolan pine over open ground, the largest surviving block.
• The ridge tracks - forest roads and paths, walkable without a machete.
• The altitude climate - cool days and cold nights, unlike anywhere in the Haitian lowlands.
• The cut edges - the working boundary where charcoal burning meets the reserve.

When to go

November to March is dry and cool. The wet months turn the access roads to mud. Mornings are clearest, and the pine plateau catches cloud in the afternoon.

Honest expectations

It is a working landscape under pressure, not a protected wilderness, and the cut edges are part of what you see. There are no facilities, no marked trails and no water supply. Getting there needs a proper vehicle and someone who knows the tracks.

Nearby

Fonds-Verrettes is the gateway town, and Pic la Selle rises to the southwest.