Reef Bay Trail

Welcome to the Reef Bay Trail... the National Park's wunderkind!

 I couldn't have come to STJ and skipped this. Much as I avoid it I'm always glad I've been.

  It's referred to as the "jewel' of the Park trails. The Park makes oodles of $$ taking people down the 2 +/- mile trail to see the environment, the ruins, the Petrogyphs, the beach, the bathroom built by LadyBird Johnson and the almost intact sugar factory. Then a boat comes and ferries them back to town serving light refreshments so they don't have to hike back up , thus avoiding a lawsuit when one keels over from dehydration.

 I can agree with the attraction. This is THE trophy trail for the Park.  The RBT has it all - it's an old Danish road for one, so that's unique. It has a number of cool ruins, stunning stone works, ghuts with water, the falls, deer, pigs, mongooses, echoing bird sounds, tropical trees and weird and unusual plants like bay, cinnamon, mango, Monkey-No-Climb, lime, and ferns that you can make scrub  brushes out of  - it's all here. Their aroma wafts in and out as you pass through different areas. There are spur trails for minor distractions, you can loop to connect to other trails if you don't care about getting back to your car, you can go exploring, there are a couple gorgeous beaches.

Watch one minute on the Reef Bay Trail!

It's just not a favorite of mine for the very reason that it's so popular. It's common on certain days to want to have some one on one nature time or be watching an animal and have 20 babbling people mindlessly show up, their voices heard throughout the valley drowning out anything else and sending every living thing running.

 Today I wound up going down it because I was putting in my very last day ever working with the Boss. This weekend ends the 6 year trail maintenance program, when he packs it in and  heads to Puerto Rico, Massachusetts, then Alaska. So I had to go. I even tabled my IRS non profit work, the one with an upcoming deadline. It's the swan song. You don't miss this.

It's been a great time working for the Friends of the National Park volunteer trail maintenance program. I've been a part of it since it's conception, now I'm seeing it out. The Boss is a positive and patient leader. Good times, good times.



Walking alone to meet the crew, who had arrived before me, was incredibly peaceful. You could be a million miles from civilization. Just my crunching feet and a Mangrove Cuckoo. Part of the trail is deceptively flat. It's easy going down to think it's not bad, what's all the whining about? It's too pretty to be a source of misery later in the day.

The first stop for us, which was part tour and part work (kind of a forced march with  manual labor breaks) was the waterfall and petroglyphs. Again. I was just here last month, but hey.... The water wasn't flowing, just a trickle of algae. We took down a Strangler Vine, a small tree and trimmed some branches. It's fun to toss the wood over the cliff like javelins.

 The rules for volunteers forbids the use of machetes and chain saws. It's frustrating sometimes and makes for grueling work. All the work we do is stone age style, by hand with saws and loppers.

The BOSS

On down to the bottom and the Reef Bay factory ruins. A little ruin clearing and trail clean up, one giant Seagrape tree bites the dust. The Reef Bay factory has been partially restored. It's well worth a visit. The remains of  the steam engine equipment is there, other mysterious nooks and crannies , and the hidden grave of William Marsh. We haven't found the other two graves. I'm starting to wonder if they're there. The buildings themselves are interesting and well made, some very nice stone work and craftsmanship - all built by African slaves. This is a good place to see what the ruins looked like before they fell apart, when they weren't....well...ruins!

Look at this little niche. What was it for? And it was so proudly constructed and decorative.

The Caribbean Sea at Reef Bay - Hot and Buggy But Gorgeous

 Another smaller factory you'll come to along the RBT is Josie's Gut. We cleared this last year. What's great about it is the ruins are right by the trail, you don't have to go into wasp country to see them.

There's a secret room behind the horse mill underneath. The Teyer palms and ferns give it a lost city look. I like Josie's Gut.

Josie's Gut Sugar Factory

Check out the brick corners. Pretty nice!

Now, these weren't plantations, they were factories, no one lived there except the overseer and the laborers. The Reef Bay Valley has about 5 factories. The Reef Bay Trail was used to transport the sugar from the factories to the sea for shipping. It was a major thoroughfare.


All these factories were all owned by the same guy. I visited his house in the February 26 blog. In case you didn't read it or forgot.....here's where he lived and lorded it over everyone.

Reef Bay Great House

2.1 miles down means 2.1 miles up and it's a killer. Let's not forget the "Point One". That tenth of a mile could be your undoing. But there's no way out. You just set your mind on it and put one foot in front of the other. A couple of kids in their 20's who worked with us today practically flew past me laughing. 
It's not funny. 
At the trailhead is a set of uneven stairs. It's pretty insulting that the first step isn't a normal step, its a tall one. You stand at the bottom of these stairs, knowing they are the only things standing between you and your car, you and your water, you and your beer, you and ...FREEDOM! And you think "please, do I have to???" 

Actually it's fine, you'll be up before you know it (right), you get into a walking mode and just go (sure). It's fun! It's MORE than fun, it's an adventure and you're sure to have a story to tell.