The crater rim
A wide crater below.
DavidMPyle — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tempest Anderson — Public domain · Tempest Anderson — Public domain · Edmund Otis Hovey — Public domain · Tempest Anderson — Public domain
La Soufrière is an active volcano in the north of Saint Vincent and the country's highest peak at 1,235 m. It is a cone-shaped mountain with rainforest on its slopes and a wide crater at the top that has held a lake, often wrapped in mist. The volcano has had eight recorded eruptions since 1718, five of them explosive, in 1718, 1812, 1902, 1979 and 2021. The latest activity began on 27 December 2020 with a lava dome and ended in a series of explosions between 9 and 22 April 2021. The painter J. M. W. Turner made a famous picture of the 1812 eruption. The mountain is an important bird area, home to the national Saint Vincent parrot. In quiet periods visitors climb a trail through rainforest and then bare volcanic ground to the crater rim. From the rim you see the wide crater below and, when the mist clears, the island and the sea around. Old photographs from 1902 show the land buried in ash after that eruption. The volcano is 20 km in a straight line north of Kingstown. The climb takes hours up and down and is best with a guide. Check the monitoring centre's updates before you go, as the volcano is active and trails can close. Bring water and a rain jacket.
A wide crater below.
On the lower slopes.
The Saint Vincent parrot.
Northern Saint Vincent; the eastern trail starts near Georgetown
Only in quiet periods; follow monitoring updates.
It is best; the trail is long and mist is common.