La Soufrière is the highest point of St Vincent at 1,234 metres and the active volcano that shapes everything north of Kingstown — geologically, agriculturally, and psychologically. The most recent eruption began in late 2020 and culminated in violent explosive activity in April 2021, blanketing the north of the island in grey ash and changing the colour of beaches for months. The summit is currently quiet again, and the hike has reopened.
There are two routes up. The leeward (windward-side) trail starts inland from Rabacca on the east coast, climbs through cocoa and banana fields and then into dwarf rainforest before emerging onto the bare upper slopes — about three to four hours up. The leeward trail from Richmond Beach is steeper and harder but ends at the same wide crater rim, ash-grey and often wrapped in cloud. The crater holds a new lava dome from the 2021 eruption, and on clear days you can see north to St Lucia. Take a guide, water, and warm clothes; the summit is twenty degrees cooler than the coast and the weather changes fast.