Syndicate Nature Trail

The Syndicate Nature Trail is a relatively straightforward loop trail and getting to its trailhead is almost as adventurous as the hike itself.

Syndicate Nature Trail is not the same thing as the trail to Syndicate Falls (which is for sale and which we did not have time to do while in Dominica).

You can get a feel for what this trail has to offer by reading the Syndicate Nature trail brochure (PDF), which states, "For a tropical rain forest experience of a lifetime, the Syndicate Nature Trail is the place to be."

The Syndicate Nature Trail leads one through a lush tropical rain forest.

While on the trail, we did not see any of the two species of parrots, but we did hear several loud and communicative birds as we walked through the forest.

The loop trail is a relatively easy walk, but does have stairs at some points and did get pretty muddy in a couple locations.

Syndicate Nature Trail provided a relatively easy way to experience a Dominican tropical forest and have a small taste of UNESCO-listed (tentative list) Morne Diablotin National Park.

The drive to Syndicate Nature Trail was fairly adventurous. After turning off the "main road" that connects Portsmouth and Roseau (the exit is closer to Portsmouth), there is a road mostly suitable for one lane that leads to the Syndicate Nature Trail. Fortunately, we only encountered one or two vehicles coming the other direction early after the turn-off where there was still quite a bit of room to pull to the side to allow them to pass. On the way back, we had to only pass two vehicles parked on the side of the road and we had one place where we had to let an oncoming vehile pass. If that road would have been more heavily trafficked, it would have been a lot more stressful driving it. One of the payoffs from the drive, which is more obvious on the way back down, is the view!

Ironically, although we did not see any parrots while on the Syndicate Nature Trail, we had one fly directly in front of us as we were driving out of the trailhead parking lot. We only saw one other couple, with a photographer, on the entire loop trail. We had the lush tropical forest to ourselves almost the entire time!