Upon coming to St. John and Virgin Islands National Park, I had researched ahead of time that Reef Bay Trail was a worthwhile hike. And for myself, I'm always interested in getting outdoors by foot and trekking along in nature. Though....when I finally arrived here at the trailhead...I was disappointed. Just before I get into any detail, I'd recommend to anyone who's taken a moment to read this, you can basically skip this hike. Unless, you have extra time to explore....then maybe this trail would be rewarding for you.
First off....this Reef Bay Trail is located right off the side of the road. To be specific, Virgin Islands NP has 2 main roads that navigate around St. John. The primary (more scenic road w/ access to all the beaches) is North Shore Rd. The secondary road (which navigates you back to the downtown, harbor area of St. John) is Centerline Rd.
So....going in a circular path around the island, I found Reef Bay Trail just past the midpoint connecting North Shore and Centerline Roads.
It's right past Colombo's Smoothies (btw, which this a pleasant spot to grab a refreshment), on the left hand side of Centerline Road....this is where I found the sign for Reef Bay Trail.
One thing...although cell phone reception is terrific here in Virgin Islands NP, and although you can plug Reef Bay Trail into Google Maps to help assist you in finding the trailhead, be careful and pay attention because I initially was lead to the end of the trail off of Bordeaux Mountain Road.
So...if you'd like the full experience of navigating along Reef Bay Trail, I'd insist that you recognize the pinpoint situated on your cellphone coordinates and follow that to help you gain access to the trail. Because...the pinpoint is accessed from the start of the hike, but Google Maps will try and guide you as near to the pinpoint as possible, even if that means driving along an alternate road to force you closest to Reef Bay Trail.
Lol. It's not this complicated I swear. All I'm saying is just be mindful of where Google Maps tries to instruct you. I recognized that I was venturing in the wrong direction as I was driving.
And it was mighty hard to turn around especially when there weren't shoulders on any of the roads of St. John (and for Americans...you're driving on the unnatural left hand side).
Simply follow the path to get you to the access area that directs you to the pinpoint. Alright...after all that (if you're not confused enough, lol) let me explain a few other specifics...
Next thing is parking. The trailhead was located on a hilly slope with no shoulder. Parking my car was virtually impossible!!! So hard!!! I had such a difficult time leaving the trailhead and getting back on the road. And...I had a compact car w/ me. Obviously renting a Jeep would have been much more convenient.
Then when I read the Reef Bay Trailhead access sign.....incredible! I decided to skip the hike entirely! Why? Because...basically all this trail contained was hiking 2.5 miles each way through the island vegetation/jungle just to arrive at the beach.
In all, if you trek the 5 mile round trip hike, it'd take roughly 4 hours. That's all? Yeah so I didn't have the time to just casually hike for 4 hours only to arrive at a beach. I decided it wasn't worthwhile. In the end, what happened if the beach wasn't scenic?
Also, I scrambled through the same conditions along Lind Point Trail (worthwhile) near the Cruz Bay Visitors Center. So what possibly could Reef Bay Trail offer me as well?
And finally, I had just arrived here after visiting the beautiful and best beaches on the island.....Hawksnest, Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay and Maho Bay. They were spectacular! What else more did I need to see?
Ultimately, I skipped the hike altogether. Hmm....I was a little surprised that this trail was even recommended! And there wasn't one other visitor parked here alongside me or hiking the trail when I came by in the afternoon.
In finishing out my day....I decided to take an alternate route and drive along Bordeaux Mountain Road (crazy, windy road) capturing some picturesque spots of Coral Bay from high above....btw, Coral Bay was situated at the far east end of the park and island.
For anyone curious about whether Reef Bay Trail was a good hike or not, I don't necessarily know. It just didn't seem worthwhile enough for me to even consider. read more