Parking for Reef Bay Hike

pswlrw · Post by **pswlrw** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 11:24 pm

On our trip this year we have a handful of college grads and they would like to do some hiking. If they want to do the Reef Bay Trail on their own (and hike back up) where would they park and where is the beginning of the trail? (Usually the only hiking I do on St. John is from the Beach Bar to Woodys

).

Caw954s · Post by **Caw954s** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 6:13 am

Hello pswlrw, we did the Reef bay hike with the National Park Service and they delivered us to the trail head by taxi. But, we saw cars parked on both sides of the road close to the trail head which is located off of centerline road, approx. 4 miles out of Cruz bay heading toward coral bay and the trailhead is on the right. There is a small sign, but it's popular so when you see the cars, slow down and look to the right. It's a great hike...have fun!

http://www.stjohntour.com/ReefBaySugarMillRuins.html

Teresa_Rae · Post by **Teresa_Rae** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 2:55 pm

There's a sign along Centerline Road...it's one of the brown NPS signs with white letters and it says "Reef Bay Trail"...having stayed in that area, I'd say that you can't count on cars being parked alongside the road, as there aren't always cars present...at least when we go in the off season that's the case.

54b · Post by **54b** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:18 pm

When driving from Cruz Bay over to Coral Bay, I always know that I'm right about to pass the Reef Bay Trailhead because it's one of the first times you actually drive downhill after about 4 miles of uphill...and also where the trailhead is located, the road dips down and then goes right back up again right before you reach the Bordeaux Mountain overlook and Bordeaux Mtn Road.

As mentioned above, there isn't a formal parking area like what you find across the road from the short trail down to Jumbie Beach...but there's room for at least three and four jeeps across the street from the stone staircase that is the beginning of the trail and the brush is cleared out enough to get your car completely off the road (and feel good that it won't get hit by passing traffic).

Puddlejumper · Post by **Puddlejumper** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:51 pm

Park alongside the road. There is a National Park Stone wall like you see anywhere on island that marks the entrance to the trail head. You can get an idea of where it is on Google Maps.
http://goo.gl/maps/LRdN7

RickG · Post by **RickG** » Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:59 pm

Ah, for some real fun, they should start the hike at Little Lameshure Bay. You can hit all the fun stuff, and if you want to head up the hill, well hell, just head up that thing than back down and over.

Cheers, RickG

pswlrw · Post by **pswlrw** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:10 am

Thanks everyone!

SandyPants · Post by **SandyPants** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:22 am

Here is my evil plan. We (oldsters) are traveling with a group of young bucks and buck-ettes. We will have two cars. We (oldsters) park on Centerline and hike down, the youngsters park at Lameshur and hike up. We meet and trade keys on the way, eventually taking each others jeeps back to the villa. Sure, we could meet them at Lameshur and they could just drive us back to our jeep, but where would be the fun in that?

54b · Post by **54b** » Fri Apr 12, 2013 10:28 am

RickG wrote:Ah, for some real fun, they should start the hike at Little Lameshure Bay. You can hit all the fun stuff, and if you want to head up the hill, well hell, just head up that thing than back down and over.

Oh it's "real fun" all right...allow me to elaborate with a cautionary tale hiking through the valley of the foreshadow of hubris...

http://becauseitsnotthere.wordpress.com ... dier-crab/

PSW, your college grads will have a great time, but I would definitely encourage them to take plenty of water and maybe a few snacks...real easy to run out of fuel hiking in the humidity.

usvi-on-line