Grand Etang Forest Reserve covers the mountainous interior of Grenada — about 1,500 hectares of cloud forest, elfin woodland and rainforest centred on the Grand Etang Lake, a 13-hectare crater lake filling the cone of an extinct volcano at 530 metres above sea level. The reserve is the only major piece of upland Caribbean forest most visitors to Grenada will ever set foot in, and the main road from St George's to Grenville crosses it at the rim of the crater.
The forest is wet — 4,000 mm of rain a year in the highest parts — and the temperature is several degrees cooler than the coast, which after a couple of days on the beaches is a welcome change. Mona monkeys (introduced from West Africa centuries ago) live in troops in the canopy and routinely come down to the visitor centre at the lake to take fruit from tourists. Hummingbirds — including the endemic Grenada dove subspecies — are common; the Mt Hartman dove is critically endangered and found only in the dry forest at the south end of the island.
Most visits to Grand Etang are a half-day from St George's or from one of the south-coast resort areas. The standard outings are the easy Morne LaBaye Trail loop near the visitor centre, the more demanding Mt Qua Qua climb up the crater ridge, and the long all-day hike to Concord Falls or down to the Seven Sisters Falls. A local guide is recommended for the longer walks — the paths are not always obvious in cloud and the rain can be heavy.