Nearly three-quarters of St. John is national park, and the dozens of hiking trails threading their way across the island are one of its main attractions. Some are easy, others are hard—but what they all have in common is the tropical environment, which adds a major dimension of challenge. I pooh-poohed this before I arrived in St. John, but once I was actually there in the heat and humidity, I found my lust for hiking quickly melting away.
However, most of the island’s more challenging trails can be hiked, even by an out-of-shape couch potato like me, using a simple ploy: skip the uphill part by driving to the uppermost point on the trail and hiking down from there. That’s the strategy my group and I used to take on the Cinnamon Bay Trail, accompanied by a knowledgeable young guide from A Walk in the Park Tours.
As we started down the trail, our guide mentioned that the forest surrounding us was very different from what it had been a few hundred years ago. In the colonial period, the entire island had been cleared of trees to make way for sugar plantations. So this forest was all new growth and still quite young, and it would be another 200 years before the forest would be back to its previous state. Too bad we wouldn’t live to see it!
Indeed, the marks of the plantations were still in evidence everywhere. We often passed low walls of rock, reminders that this hill had once been terraced, and the remains of the irrigation system could also be seen in places. The guide also noted that St. John’s forest was a very dry one, because the small trees didn’t produce the amount of evaporation needed to precipitate frequent bouts of rain.
Overall, the trail was very pretty, and there were a couple of spots with fantastic views down the hillside and across Cinnamon Bay. And if I could hike down it without a problem, just about anyone can. Do wear hiking boots, though, as it’s rough, rocky, and slippery in places! (One of my companions was wearing slip-on sandals, and he was definitely not a happy camper.) As for hiking it uphill—well, you can do it, but be prepared for a challenge!
If you hike it downhill as I did, there’s another nice bonus in store for you at the bottom: an interesting complex of colonial ruins. And right across the road is the Cinnamon Bay campground and beach, where you can relax with a refreshing drink and cool off with a swim in the ocean.