Trail running on Lion Mountain

What kind of objective this is

The mapped spine from Vieux Grand Port to the summit is about 1.8 km with roughly 400 m of ascent, which works out to an average gradient of more than one in five and far steeper on the gully and the ridge. Recorded loops that add the eastern ridge come to between about 4.5 and 4.8 km with 470 to 550 m of climbing, depending on the device and the exact line. That is a short, hard effort, and most runners who come here treat it as a steep climb session with a technical descent rather than a run in the normal sense.

The ground changes character four times. The cane road is a flat vehicle track. The lower forest is rooty and shaded. The gully is a staircase. The ridge is rock with hands-on steps and real exposure on the seaward side of the head. Reviewers estimate that all four limbs are in use for roughly half of the ascent and descent, which tells you how much of this mountain is simply not running terrain.

Where you can run and where you cannot

Be clear in advance about which sections you will run and which you will walk, and do not let a watch or a group decide for you on the ridge.

The CIEL Ferney Trail

The race that belongs to this corner of the island is the CIEL Ferney Trail, run from the Vallée de Ferney estate on the mountain’s northern side. The organiser’s page, read in late October 2026, still listed 12 September 2026 as the next edition, with registration through roag.org from 4 May 2026, so check the page for the following date before you plan a trip around it. The organiser claims over 4,500 participants every year across four distances.

The published page describes the four current courses without any mention of Lion Mountain or a sunrise section. Earlier editions were a different animal. The 2018 ultra ran about 50 km with roughly 2,530 m of climbing and the 2019 ultra about 38 km with roughly 1,980 m, and those long courses were described as crossing Lion Mountain at sunrise. If you want the experience of racing over the lion, that history is the reason people talk about it, but check the current course map before assuming the race still does.

The Association Rando Trail et Nature league

The 10 km, 18 km and 35 km races count towards the League Trail run by the Association Rando Trail et Nature, the body behind the island’s trail league. The 10 km is classed as a short league race and the 18 km and 35 km as long ones. For a visiting runner the league matters less than the fact that it exists, because it means the island has a season of marked, marshalled trail races, which is precisely what Lion Mountain on an ordinary morning does not have. If you want to race in Mauritius, the league calendar is where to look, and Ferney is the event nearest this mountain.

Heat and hydration

Runners underestimate this mountain because it is short. The upper half has no shade, the dark rock radiates heat, and there is no water anywhere on the route. The airport station at Plaisance, a few kilometres away, records average daytime highs of about 30 °C from December to March and about 25 °C in July and August, and the humidity on the coast makes both feel hotter. Trade winds are strongest in July and August, which cools the ridge but also unbalances you on the rock.

Carry at least 1.5 litres even for a fast outing, and more in summer. A running vest with soft flasks keeps the hands free for the scramble in a way that handheld bottles do not. Start at first light, which is between about 05:22 in November and 06:45 in July, and aim to be off the ridge before the sun is high. If you are training for a race, do the climb repeats on the cane road and the lower forest in the early morning and leave the ridge for one careful ascent.

Descending on slippery leaves

The descent is where runners get hurt on this mountain. The forest floor is covered in dry leaves that slide on the clay beneath, the clay itself stays greasy long after rain, and the holds on the rock steps are polished by thousands of hands and feet. Reviewers single out slippery leaves, mud and fog as the conditions that caught them out, and the eastern ridge descent as harder than the main spine.

Shorten your stride, keep your weight over your feet and accept that the first running steps come on the cane road, not in the forest. Shoes with deep lugs make the difference between a controlled descent and a slide. If there has been rain in the past day, treat the forest as a walk and the rock as off limits, and remember that fog can sit on the ridge even when the coast is clear.

Etiquette with walkers

The path is narrow, the rock steps are single file, and the people on them are often nervous. A runner arriving fast and silent behind someone on an exposed step is a genuine hazard, not an annoyance. Call out early and calmly, wait at the top or bottom of a step rather than passing on it, and let the slower person choose the moment. In the gully, be aware that your footfall above someone can send a stone onto them.

• Announce yourself well before you reach a walker, and pass only where the path is wide.
• Never pass on the rock steps or the head. Wait, and thank people for stepping aside.
• Do not dislodge rocks in the gully, and shout a warning if you do.
• Leave the music at home. The ridge is quiet and the view is the point.
• In the village, remember that an early start means residents are still asleep. Keep voices down and park considerately.

Running the valley instead

For actual running rather than a climb session, the Vallée de Ferney next door has four marked routes of 5 km, 8 km, 13 km and 18 km with 75 m, 178 m, 530 m and 970 m of climbing respectively, graded from easy to difficult. They are forest trails on the mountain’s northern side, usable within park hours, which run from 08:30 to 14:00 for activities with the reception open to 17:00, for a fee of Rs 500 per adult visitor and Rs 250 per child, less for residents. The car park has reportedly been locked after 16:00, so do not plan a late finish.

Ferney is where the race runs, and for a visiting runner it is the better place to log distance, with Lion Mountain kept for the one steep morning that the legs will remember. The Ferney page on this site has the detail on the valley.