Trou Aux Cerfs - Mauritius

One of the famous natural tourist attractions in Mauritius is the Trou aux Cerfs dormant volcano located about 1 kilometer from the town of Curepipe. The dormant, volcanic crater is around 605 meters above sea level, with a diameter of 350 meters and a depth of around 100 meters. Interestingly, Trou aux Cerfs is also called ‘Murr’s Volcano’.

A natural geographical volcanic outcrop, the island of Mauritius is home to more than just beaches and lagoon. The island boasts of a vast variety of unique natural topography including caves, waterfalls and even volcanic craters. The most popular tourist attraction of Curepipe, Trou Aux Cerfs is a dormant volcanic crater, where you can stand on the rim of the crater and look deep down into the pit of the now-dormant volcano.

Trou Aux Cerfs is famous not just because of its inward view, but because of its outside view as well, because one look out towards the ocean gives you a panoramic 360 degree of the entire island and the miles of water surrounding it. The bowl of the crater is densely forested, and it is a favorite hangout for walkers and joggers, not just for tourists but the locals as well.

 

Trou aux Cerfs – Earth’s one of a kind volcano

Fascinating landscapes, historical museums, pristine beaches, beautiful places to visit, Mauritius is an exotic island to visit by the honeymooners. Mauritius island, located in the great Indian ocean has so many wonders in it. The Trou aux Cerfs, a volcano, is one of the reasons Mauritius came into existence. During its eruption, the volcano, and its ashes led to the creation of land in the Indian Ocean.

Trou aux Cerfs is located in the heart of Curepipe, Mauritius. It is one of the most naturally created attractions on earth. Unlike other volcanoes, Trou aux Cerfs crater is surrounded by lush green shrubs, bushes and pine trees. Tourists are allowed to enter the volcano through three different entrances. The ‘La Hausse de la Louvière Road’, ‘Edgar Hughes Road’ and ‘Crater Lane’. The island has been dominant for over 70,000 years and is expected to erupt anytime. The volcano also has a radar station that monitors the cyclonic activities.

Trou aux Cerfs is a c. 600 m high volcanic crater located in Curepipe. The crater has not been active for the last 100.000 years, and can thus provide us with an extensive record of palaeo cyclonic and palaeoclimatic data. Andrea Balbo and Krish Seetah undertook a survey of Trou aux Cerfs on the 16th of December 2009. Due to the limited time available, only one day could be devoted to this site; however, this provided much useful information both in terms of actual results and within the context of planning for subsequent seasons. The area immediately around the crater edge has been substantially developed, with a road ringing the entire perimeter. An initial circuit of this was made to note vegetation and other environmental conditions. The only route to access the base of the volcano, which contains a naturally occurring lake, was via a narrow track spiraling down the side of the crater. On reaching the crater bottom, an initial reconnaissance of the visible crater slope was made with a minimum of six terrace levels evident from the perimeter to the basin. A 250 cm long bamboo stake was fashioned from readily available material. The entire length of this stake was hammered into the lake sediments from the top of the lowest terrace providing an estimate of the minimum sediment accumulation on the volcano lake margin. When trying to hammer in a PVC pipe we were stopped by angular basalt blocks (10s of cm) and could only recover the top 30 cm of the sequence. This was used to test proxy presence/preservation. No diatoms were found in the top 30 cm recovered.

 

Nearby attractions 

1. Adventure Park

Visit the adventure park that is located close to the volcano. It is one of the must-visit places while visiting Trou aux Cerfs. Try your hand in Accrobranche or Zip lining which are the major attractions there. There are various water sports for adults and kids to try as well.

2. Visit Casino de Maurice

Casino de Maurice was built in the year 1970 and is the oldest existing casino ever on the island. With video games, poker, blackjack, American Roulette, etc, this place sure does provide maximum entertainment.

 

How to Reach Trou Aux Cerfs - Mauritius

Even though the volcano is a natural protrusion in the middle of a dense forest, and not located in the center of an industrialized area, once you are in Curepipe, getting to Trou aux Cerfs is one of the most straightforward tasks ever.

All you have to do is to set out on a drive westward from the city center towards Floreal, which will have you travel a distance of 1 km before you wind up on the Trou-aux-Cerfs road which circles the entire mountain. Once you are on this road, you can choose to disembark from your car and take in the whole glory of the crater in any form you wish.