Lion Mountain, Mauritius

Why it is called the Lion

Seen from Mahébourg or from the coast road at Bois des Amourettes, the mountain reads as a lion lying down. The long ridge is the back, rising gently from the south, and the rocky summit block at the northern end is the head, lifted and looking out to sea. Hikers use exactly those words, the back and the head, to describe the two halves of the route.

The French name is Montagne du Lion and the two names are used interchangeably on the island. Old mapping agencies also recorded it as Lion’s Head, and travel writers sometimes call the profile sphinx-like. Nobody has found a written record of when the name was first given, and no Dutch-era name for the mountain has survived, so the honest answer is that the shape named itself and the colonists simply agreed.

How high it really is

Sources do not agree on the height. The English Wikipedia entry gives 440 m, taken from a 2004 Mauritius Post stamp series. Lonely Planet, BirdLife’s Important Bird Area factsheet for the east coast mountains and most Mauritian guides use 480 m. Peak databases such as Peakery, and the OpenStreetMap survey of the summit, record 490 m. Recorded GPS tracks top out between 438 m and 490 m, which is normal for consumer devices on a sharp summit.

This guide uses about 480 m. The spread matters less than it seems, because the mountain starts almost at sea level. Whatever figure you prefer, the climb from Vieux Grand Port is a full 400 m or more of ascent packed into less than two kilometres of path.

Where it stands

The mountain belongs to the Bambous range, the highest and longest of the three parallel chains on the east side of Mauritius. The range runs for roughly 12 km between Montagne Chat and Montagne Table à Perrot, and its highest point, Montagne Bambou, reaches about 630 m. Lion Mountain is its southern outlier, pushed forward towards the coast so that it stands between the valley of Ferney on the north-west and the bay of Grand Port on the south-east.

Vieux Grand Port, the oldest settlement on the island, sits at its foot on the coast road. Mahébourg is about 6 km to the south-west across the water, and the runway of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport is about 9 km away in a straight line, close enough that aircraft on approach pass within sight of the summit.

What the mountain is made of

Mauritius is a volcanic island built by the Réunion hotspot. Its oldest rocks, the so-called Older Series, were erupted between roughly ten and five million years ago, and the deeply eroded eastern ranges, including the Bambous Mountains, belong to that old shield. The island’s later eruptions filled the centre with younger lava and left the old rim standing as the ring of mountains you see from any high point today.

Nobody has published a dated study of Lion Mountain itself, so this guide does not pretend to know the age of its rock to the million years. What matters underfoot is simpler: the ridge is weathered basalt with a thin, clay-rich soil, which drains slowly, stays slippery long after rain and polishes smooth where thousands of boots have used the same handholds.

What the mountain has watched

The bay below is where the recorded history of Mauritius begins. In September 1598 the ships of Wybrand van Warwijck anchored in the sheltered water and the Dutch named the island after their stadtholder, Maurits of Nassau. Forty years later they built Fort Frederik Hendrik on the colluvial fan at the foot of the mountain, and its excavated foundations now sit inside the museum grounds a few hundred metres from the trailhead.

In August 1810 the same lagoon saw the Battle of Grand Port, a week-long fight in which four British frigates were lost or captured inside the reef. It is the only naval battle whose name is carved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The memorial stands on the waterfront at Mahébourg, looking straight back at the lion.

How it fits a visit

Lion Mountain is a half-day mountain, not a full expedition. From Vieux Grand Port the climb and return take three to four hours for most people, which leaves the afternoon for Mahébourg, the marine park at Blue Bay or a boat to Île aux Aigrettes. The guides on this site cover each of those pieces so you can put the day together in whichever order suits the weather.

If you only read one other page, read the hiking guide. The lower slope is easy, the ridge is steep, and the final steps onto the lion’s head are genuinely exposed. Knowing that before you start is the difference between a great morning and an uncomfortable one.

• Start early. The climb is exposed to the sun and there is no water on the route.
• Check the forecast for the south-east specifically, which gets more rain than the west coast.
• Leave cars in the village and keep valuables out of sight.
• Carry at least 1.5 litres of water per person and shoes with real grip.