The route
The start is at the Bellevue car park, at about 970 m. From the D48, go through Hell-Bourg and turn left towards the Champ de Foire. Without a car, the Estival bus network serves Hell-Bourg from the Saint-André bus station.
The concrete lane at the start soon turns into steps, then a rocky path climbing in tight switchbacks. The steepest stretches are fitted with cables, and the views over the Salazie cirque follow one another. After a small stream, the slope eases and the path crosses shady, soft-floored shelves before steepening again along a retaining wall. At the top you pass under the gantry of the old cable car: from the 1950s it carried tamarind logs cut at Bélouve down to Salazie, and it supplied the cut-off cirque after Cyclone Hyacinthe in 1980. A small valley then leads to the viewpoint of the Bélouve lodge, at 1,505 m. The Park counts 3 km and a little over 500 m of climbing for this first stretch, about an hour and a half to two hours.
From the lodge, walk to the car park at the end of the Bébour-Bélouve forest road, then go down that road for 350 m to the Fleurs Jaunes forest road, which leaves on the left. This is the official diversion: the stretch of the Trou de Fer path that starts straight from the lodge is closed by prefectoral order. The track crosses the forest, then the Allée Cavalière leads onto the Bélouve plateau, where the Trou de Fer path takes over to the viewpoint. The ground is almost flat, but muddy for much of the year despite the boardwalks.
The Bélouve forest lies in the core of the National Park. The highland tamarinds, an endemic species descended from an Australian one, lie down in the wind and grow back upright. Tree ferns and other ferns cover up to 40% of the undergrowth. At the viewpoint, a wooden platform built in 2015, the falls of the Bras de Caverne and the Mazerin ravine plunge into the chasm, with thinner falls springing from its walls. Clouds often fill it from mid-morning.
The way back is the same. The descent to Hell-Bourg, steep and often slippery, asks for strong knees and good soles.
Staying overnight
The Bélouve lodge splits the day in two and lets you reach the viewpoint at sunrise. It is open in 2026 and is booked on book.reunion.fr. Expect about €20 a night in a dormitory and €34 for half board in 2026. Meals and packed lunches are ordered 48 hours ahead, cooking your own food is not allowed, and payment is in cash or by cheque. Next door, the Tamarind museum is free to visit from 9 am to 4 pm, except on Wednesdays.
Good to know
The Bélouve trails often close. The prefectoral order of 8 October 2026 bans the Trou de Fer path between the lodge and the Fleurs Jaunes forest road, as well as the École Normale, Tamarinaie de Bélouve and Tour de la Grande Mare paths. Close to 5,000 mm of rain falls on Bélouve every year, and the Trou de Fer often vanishes in the mist in the afternoon: leave Hell-Bourg around 7 am, with water for the day, as no drinking water point is known along the way. RandoMafate shows the ONF trail closures and the forecast for the hike before you leave, keeps the map offline in a forest where paths cross, and your close ones follow your outing on a simple web page.
Plan this hike in RandoMafate
The trail map offline, elevation to the metre, ONF closures and the weather for the day, and the people close to you told when you set off and when you are back.
RandoMafate
