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Dornock River Head Rising, St. Ann (Trip
Report)
Where
the rivers emerge from underground... And a surprising
cotton tree!
(Please be patient with download as this page contains
many large images.)
The Dornock River Head Rising is not a visitor attraction. It is a beautiful place known to relatively few, and fewer still who go there for a swim and/or picnic. Most Jamaicans have never heard of it. Special thanks to Brian Miller, long time visitor to Jamaica and repeat visitor to Silver-Sands, for his shared inspiration in Dornock adventure.
This is really off the beaten track. There is no sign, no lifeguard, no construction or facilities of any kind.
In October 2002, Michael Stewart (one of our independent
contract drivers), Belvitt (the houseman at The Orchid House
and Endless Summer) and I decided to visit this elusive
spot. After I told Michael about it a few months earlier, he
decided to "find" it, and he did through some friends of his
who live in the area.
We left Silver Sands in Michael's bus
and drove up into the interior, passing through Duncans and
then on through Clarke's Town. In early October, two storms
had passed very close to Jamaica and dumped a lot of rain on
the island. The road from Duncan's to Clarke's Town was
therefore blocked at Long Pond, where the waters had not yet
receded. We therefore had to make an interesting diversion,
literally along dirt roads and muddy tracks around the Long
Pond Sugar Factory and through the lush cane fields.
(Scroll down for more.)
Dornock River Head,
August 2003. See more at Chadeesingh
Family 2003.
From Clarke's Town, we headed East, a beautiful drive
through more cane fields and through Jackson Town, passing
Biddeford, and then heading South, i.e. uphill to Stewart
Town. I was very interested to see the Westwood School,
situated on the peak of a hill with a commanding view of the
valleys, as we got close to Stewart Town. A very young lady
left Ireland many years ago to take up a teaching position
at Westwood School. Later she married Dr. Leo Freeman, a
renowned Jamaican surgeon, and they produced one child, a
daughter, Alice, who married my brother, Kamal, over twenty
years ago.
It only took us half an hour from Silver Sands to reach the crossroads at Stewart Town, but it already felt like we were in a different country. At these crossroads, we made a left turn, heading North towards the coast. The road became very narrow and we soon passed the Stewart Town Basic School before the road split around a beautiful old cut-stone church, the Webb Memorial Baptist Church founded in 1829 by Rev. J. T. Mann.
Taking the right fork, we passed the
Stewart Town All-Age School and continued downhill to a
beautiful valley. The road circled the surrounding hills,
descending into the valley. In a few minutes we passed a
sign nailed to a tree which stated that we had crossed the
border from the parish of Trelawny into St. Ann. About a
hundred yards further downhill, Michael parked his van some
forty minutes after we left Silver Sands. There is no sign
or telltale evidence that this is the beginning of the track
to Dornock River Head. There is a track to the left and
another to the right and the road continues on. Michael
parked in a clearing off the road under a tree. (Scroll
down for more.)
More views of the
Dornock River Head. At left, the photo shows the clean
blue-green water emerging from underground, before it
becomes muddy.
It only took us fifteen minutes
to walk downhill to the river. The track was rough and
covered with loose rocks in some places, so walking boots
with good ankle support would be ideal footwear. A Landrover
or other four-wheel drive off-the-road vehicle could easily
make this journey. There are two other tracks leading off
from this one. We went straight on at the first (about ten
minutes walk from where we parked), and then kept left at
the second, and there it was, a clearing, a cow pasture
really, with the river silently flowing by.
Alan Fincham writes in "Jamaica Underground" that the Dornock River Head is the largest river rising in Jamaica and is known, by water tracing, to be the resurgence for at least two rivers which flow underground, the Quashies River and the Cave River. It is about thirty yards in diameter and forms the head of the Rio Bueno, which flows to the sea at the town of Rio Bueno. You may purchase Jamaica Underground from Amazon by clicking this link!
Jamaica
Underground: The Caves,...
Since we didn't want to swim in the
muddy river, we explored the surroundings. We found the
remnants of a camp fire that had recently been abandoned. A
few cows gazed at us as we scouted the river bank, past the
cocoa trees, until we discovered the largest cotton tree
that any of us had ever laid eyes on. (Scroll down for
more.)
Huge cotton tree on the bank
with roots extending into the river.
We were amazed at the size of
this cotton tree, towering overhead from the bank of the
river. But, when we got close to it, we discovered it held a
fantastic secret. (Scroll down for more.)
The huge cotton tree towering overhead with roots extending into the river. At right, green (unripened) cocoa on the tree.
Michael, dwarfed beside the
cotton tree trunk.
A split in the tree trunk
allowing one to see through it into the river.
Belvitt, standing outside the
cotton tree. Photo taken of him through the split in the
trunk from inside the tree.
The massive trunk of this cotton tree is split open on two sides. On one side it is a small split, not large enough to put one's head in, but on the river side, it is a huge opening where one can comfortably walk into the tree. We carefully climbed down the slippery river bank and over a large root which disappeared into the river. No one wanted to slip and slide into the cold muddy water. Holding on to branches for safety, we climbed back up the river bank and walked into the trunk of the tree. (Scroll down for more.)
Michael, climbing down the bank to get around this large root of the cotton tree. Michael, standing in the opening of the tree trunk.
Yes, we walked into the trunk of the tree. It was like a tent, at least twelve feet high and more than that wide. The inside of the trunk was blackened in places, looking as though it had been burnt. The floor was muddy and very slippery. We felt very satisfied, like great adventurers. We did not encounter anyone else from the time we left the van until our return. This is truly off the beaten track. (Scroll down for more.)
Michael, looking up inside the tree. Note the river flowing past outside. And that's me, Prem, standing inside the tree trunk.
The floor inside the tree trunk.
The hike back uphill to the van only took us twenty minutes. We decided that we had to return when the river would be clean, so we could swim. We wondered about the feasibility of taking kayaks and how far we could go on them downstream. We planned that we would take a picnic, maybe some seasoned meat to jerk on a fire on the river bank.
We decided not to back track, but drove on towards Discovery Bay, a journey which took twenty minutes, leading us through bauxite country, across a mining train line, pass the Home Castle Estate and the Grateful Hill Baptist Church. From Discovery Bay, we completed the loop driving along the North Coast highway for about twenty-five minutes before arriving back at Silver Sands.
Of course,
Michael is now keen to take visitors to this site. He has
planned a tour of a half-day duration from Silver Sands for
US$10 per person, minimum of four persons.
For more information on caves in Jamaica and other related
topics, take a look at the following:
"Jamaica Underground: The Caves, Sinkholes and
Underground Rivers of the Island" Alan G. Fincham, 1997, The
Press University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
Order
Jamaica Underground Today!
Amazon's Book Description:
"Greatly extending the long out-of-print first edition, this
new volume features over 300 specially redrawn cave plans,
colour plates illustrating the Jamaican underground scene
and numerous extracts from previously unpublished expedition
logs and anecdotal accounts of explorations. This second
edition of "Jamaica Underground" provides the only single
source of detailed information on the caves of
Jamaica."
Caving In Jamaica (http://users.skynet.be/sky33676/index1.html)
Jamaica Underground - Caribbean For Visitors (http://gocaribbean.about.com/library/weekly/aa052699.htm)
Windsor
Research Station, Cockpit Country
(http://www.cockpitcountry.com/)
Note:
This page has been posted as a community service. This is
not a recommendation as this not
an approved visitor attraction.
Things
To Do in Jamaica