St. John 

North Side Tour (4.5 Hours) 

Exploring the North Side of St. John, Virgin Islands, visitors will have a chance to experience stunning beaches like Trunk Bay and Hawksnest. This particular St. John On Foot And By Car tour begins at the historic Caneel Bay Plantation Resort, located less than a mile from the village of Cruz Bay. Caneel played a key role in Virgin Island's historic slave revolt of 1733. There are historic ruins scattered around the grounds of Caneel, most notable is the Caneel sugar mill, which today hosts one of the resort's restaurants. Besides Caneel, other highlights of the tour include stops at Annaberg, Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay, where visitors will discover a great deal about St. John, Virgin Islands history and get better acquainted with the natural beauty of the island. On this tour, visitors will also learn about one of St. John's famous former residents, Robert Oppenheimer, inventor of the atomic bomb, who chose to live here in the Virgin Islands as a recluse for many years. There’s an opportunity to use several of the guidebook’s handsomely illustrated identification guides to the Virgin Islands' birds, fish and woodland creatures. There is also instruction on coral identification and information on how coral reefs are formed. Visitors will enjoy their stop at Maho Bay Camps where there may be an opportunity to witness a glass blowing demonstration or to attend an interpretive lecture or slide show about St. John. Maho Bay Camps is one of the world’s first “green resorts” and was conceived and built by pioneer eco-resort developer, Stanley Selengut, in the 1970s. This popular St. John, Virgin Islands resort was constructed using techniques that caused minimal erosion, thereby avoiding coral reef damage.

Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail 

(The following excerpt was taken from the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail tour, which is included in St. John On Foot And By Car) “….. Leaving the plaque, walk up the trail about 50 feet to the ruins of the large sugar factory. Note the round circular platform to the left. This is the horsemill where the raw cane stalks were crushed between iron rollers. Power to rotate the rollers was supplied by horses, mules or oxen that were harnessed to a central shaft and forced to walk in a circular path.  The cane juice extracted from the stalks was funneled by gravity into the factory building where it was heated and boiled in a series of pots. Beds where the pots were seated are still visible on the left side of the ruins. After exploring the sugar factory, return to the plaque (in front of the factory) and follow the trail along the right hand side of the building. The large circular chimney adjacent to the factory building is attached to several ovens where bread was baked to feed slaves on St. John.

A few steps beyond the factory building, the trail winds to the right and leads to the remains of a bay rum still. The still can be identified by it’s pyramidal chimney. Just to the right of the bay still is a marker indicating the entrance to the Cinnamon hiking trail above the ruins. Before going up the trail, you may want to walk across the small stone bridge to the right where you can view the remains of the Cinnamon Bay Estate House and several out-buildings. The plaque in front of the building shows an artist’s rendering of the original estate house. The Cinnamon Bay Estate House was destroyed by a hurricane during the early 1900s, however, the steps leading up to the main entrance are still clearly visible. 

Retrace your steps back across the stone bridge, turn right at the bay rum still and head up the path. The surrounding hillsides are dotted with bay trees. Bay trees are easily identified by their smooth brown trunks. The trees thrive in the rich soil and damp climate found on this side of the island. At one time, children on St John were used to climb the trees and pick the leaves and drop them down to women waiting below. The precious oils were extracted and combined with rum and other alcoholics to make a scented perfume. If you were to crumple a leaf between your fingers you would immediately experience the intoxicating and rich aroma of this plant.

About 150 yards past the bay rum still you come to an old Danish cemetery….”

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