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  Trailhead: From the park headquarters, walk for a few hundreds yards on the paved road leading to St. George's.
A sign on the right marks the start.
The hike to Mt. Qua Qua passes through true rain forest territory which is apt to live up to its name suddenly, so bring a windbreaker for showers and the cool tradewinds. Also take water and snacks for a break at the summit.
The Mt. Qua Qua hike is a scenic one in many spots
This is a challenging hike leading to the rocky summit of Mt. Qua Qua and its famous view of the northeast coast. At various points there are also some good panoramas of distant Grand Etang.
An excellent hike for photography but keep your camera in a backpack or holster; you need both hands for scrambling up and grabbing tree roots.
You'll experience little gradient until you pass a junction sign leading to the Grand Etang trail to the right. From this point the trail keeps going up and down, sometimes quite steeply, and the red clay soil along the crater rim is icy-slick when wet.
 In some places, the slippery trail is only a few feet wide: dramatic drop-offs on either side demand caution. As troublesome as this wet clay may be, early settlers found it ideal for chinking their wood and bamboo dwellings.
As you start to climb, the plants and trees on the lake slope take on the characteristics of elfin woodland, forest that's been stunted and sculpted by the ever-constant tradewinds. In fact, on windward slopes all throughout Grenada you'll see similar formations where the trades have dwarfed, twisted and folded back the vegetation. It's more pronounced the higher you go.
Interpretive "Q" signs mark several places.
Q1 is a vantage point to appreciate how the foliage overlooking the lakes have been sculpted and stunted by constant high winds to form the fairy-like elfin woodland.
Q2 is a large bui tree (Micropholis chrysophyuoides) blown over in 1955 by Hurricane Janet; its huge roots make good shelter from the rain.
Q3 identifies many mosses overhanging the trail. Forest workers use the moss, which is almost always damp, to wrap around newly grafted tree branches to speed healing.
Q4: This is razor grass, which you want to avoid. It's sharp enough even to cut through light clothing. If you feel compelled to test its edge but want to avoid drawing blood, use a blade of it to shave some hair off the back of your arm.
Q5 is a mountain almond (Bandizabocu) which has a distinctive mottled bark; it produces a large, inedible fruit in the fall.
Q6 is a bois gris or bagui tree, an excellent hardwood that becomes even stronger in water, making it a preferred material for docks and sea jetties.
Q7 is a possible landslide area, so be careful near the edge. It offers a good view of Grand Anse beach and the southern end of the island. Many of the trees descending to the valley below (an important watershed region) are bois jab or tree ferns.
Proceeding, you'll see a clearing on the left: a firebreak not worth following. Instead, keep bearing to the right, where purple orchids drape over the different bushes.
Q8 marks the boundary into true elfin forest, which looks like it's kept cut back and miniaturized by Japanese bonsai artists; yet it's all wind effect.
 As long as you grab tree roots and trunks where necessary to combat the mud, you should have no real problem making it to the top of Mt. Qua Qua, 2,372 feet above sea level.
Near the summit you won't even be walking on clay, but a thick mat of tree roots. You'll know when you've begun walking on air because your ground support will suddenly feel spongy, almost trampoline-like.
The situation lasts for only a few yards; and quite memorable ones they are, too, since the real ground is a couple of hundred feet below.
Even though the Mt. Qua Qua trail is marked clearly enough that no guide is necessary, I met several people who'd turned back, claiming the trail was too slippery and impassable: even German hikers, and I didn't think anything could deter them.
If you feel you might need a little extra moral support, don't hesitate to contact professional guides Denis Henry or Telfor Bedeau, who are always good company.
The view from Mt. Qua Qua (in clear weather) is well worth any effort.
At the summit is a tall boulder on the right and a wonderful view of the eastern mountains, the windward coast and the Point Salines airport.
Walk around the high boulder to a pathway between it and another large rock. Step to the edge and--after the hot, humid climb--greet what feels like all the winds of the world.
Amazingly, its only the full, unblunted force of the 22-mph trades that blow constantly across the peak, the same northeast-north breezes that brought Columbus and the other early explorers across the Atlantic.
 If the breeze is too much (it will be around twelve degrees colder than at sea level), backtrack and shelter in the boulder's lee side.
If you're up for some rock climbing, it's possible to scale the summit boulder for an even more elevated look around.
On the return trip are wonderful views of Grand Etang you'll have missed unless you kept looking over your shoulder on the way up.
- Length: 3 miles.
- Time: 2-1/2 to 3 hours, round trip.
- Difficulty: 3-4, depending on slipperiness.
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