Mountain · Haiti
Pic la Selle
Pic la Selle is the highest mountain in Haiti, standing 2 680 metres up in the south-east of the country. Pine trees grow near the top, and the nights can be surprisingly cold.
Where is Pic la Selle?
Pic la Selle is part of the Massif de la Selle.
You will find it in: Haiti.
Summit: 18.360° N, 71.977° W
The story behind it
Haiti lies in the warm Caribbean, yet the air on this mountain feels like autumn in a cooler country. Pine forests cover the upper slopes, ferns and mosses fill the damp hollows, and mist often drifts through the trees in the early morning. The measurements of the summit differ by a few metres depending on who did the surveying, so you may read slightly different numbers. Families farm the steep ground lower down, growing beans, cabbages and potatoes in small fields that cling to the hillside. Higher up lies a protected area where rare birds live, among them a green and red bird that nests in tree holes. There is no cable car and no road to the top, so anyone who wants to reach it walks from a village below, usually with someone from the area showing the way.
Find it on the globe
Pic la Selle is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How high is Pic la Selle?
The usual figure is 2 680 metres above sea level. Different surveys have produced slightly different results, so the number can wobble by a few metres.
Which country is Pic la Selle in?
It rises in Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. The mountain sits in the south-east, not far from the border.
Can you climb Pic la Selle?
Reaching the summit means a long walk on rough tracks rather than real climbing. Visitors normally go with a local guide, because the paths fork often and the weather can turn cold and wet.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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