La Visite National Park

La Visite protects a plateau of Hispaniolan pine and eroded limestone at around two thousand metres in the Massif de la Selle, close enough to the capital to be reached in a morning and high enough to be genuinely cold at night. The classic route crosses it from Furcy to Seguin, six to eight hours of walking through pine, cloud forest fragments and karst pavement, with the Caribbean visible to the south on a clear day. The park holds the last known habitat of several endemic birds and the historic range of the Hispaniolan solenodon.

What you actually see

• The pine plateau - open Hispaniolan pine forest with grass beneath, unlike the lowland vegetation.
• The karst - eroded limestone pavement and sinkholes across the plateau.
• The Furcy to Seguin trail - six to eight hours across the park, the standard crossing.
• The escarpment view - the southern edge dropping away towards the Caribbean.

When to go

November to March is drier and clearest. Cloud often fills the plateau by early afternoon, so the crossing is started early. Nights at this altitude drop close to freezing and the huts are unheated.

Honest expectations

The trail is unmarked in places and a guide is the normal arrangement rather than an optional extra. Accommodation at Seguin is a basic lodge and needs arranging ahead. Charcoal cutting has thinned the pine in the accessible parts of the park, and the forest is patchier than the map suggests.

Nearby

Furcy and Kenscoff are at the western end, and Jacmel is down on the coast to the south.