--- title: "Reef Bay Trail and St. John Hiking, Ranked by Effort · Virgin Islands Villas" url: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/hiking description: "The Reef Bay Trail is about 3 miles down and 900 feet back up. Seven St. John trails ranked by effort, with each trailhead and its distance from Cruz Bay." updated: 2026-10-09 source: https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/hiking --- [St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john) · Things to do · St. John # Hiking on St. John: the Reef Bay Trail and six more The Reef Bay Trail is the hike St. John is known for: about three miles one way from Centerline Road down to the sea, and a 900 foot climb back out, per the National Park Service. Below: seven trails ranked by effort, how to reach each from Cruz Bay, and the park's 2026 rules. Written by Virgin Islands Villas · Facts checked Oct 2026 ## St. John trails ranked by effort Seven trails, hardest first, in the park's own words for the effort. Lengths are one way unless the park calls the trail a loop. The last column is our measured drive or walk from Cruz Bay to the trailhead or its lot. | Trail | Length | Effort, per the park | Starts at | From Cruz Bay | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reef Bay | About 3 mi, 900 ft climb out | Steep, strenuous | Centerline Road, about mile marker 5 | Not measured | | Ram Head | 0.9 mi from the beach | Steep, strenuous | Salt Pond Bay beach | 41 min by car, then 10 on foot | | Cinnamon Bay Trail | 1 mi, uphill to Centerline Road | Strenuous | East of the Cinnamon Bay ruins | 17 min by car | | Lind Point | 20 to 40 min, no mileage given | Narrow, rocky | Behind the park visitor center | 8 min on foot from the ferry dock | | Salt Pond Bay | About 0.25 mi | Uneven, rocky, moderate slope | The Salt Pond lot on Route 107 | 41 min by car | | Yawzi Point | 0.3 mi | Easy, narrow, rocky | Little Lameshur beach | 45 min by car, four-wheel drive | | Cinnamon Bay nature loop | 0.5 mi loop | Easy | Across from the campground entrance | 17 min by car | What decides the day is less the mileage than the shape. Reef Bay and the Cinnamon Bay Trail are point to point with the road at the top, so the hard half comes last. Ram Head is the reverse: the long drive comes first and the steep mile is out and back from the sand. Lind Point is the only start you can reach without a car. ## The Reef Bay Trail: three miles down, 900 feet out By car or taxi up Centerline Road to about mile marker 5. The park gives no drive time and we have not measured this one. The Reef Bay Trail leaves Centerline Road and drops through shaded, damp forest and the remains of four sugar estates to the Reef Bay sugar factory, whose stone buildings still hold steam-powered machinery. At mile 1.6 a side trail turns off to a waterfall and the petroglyphs attributed to the Taino; the trail page says the waterfall "can be spectacular during the rainy season". Signs along the way name the trees and their uses. The National Park Service (NPS) calls the whole route steep and strenuous, uneven and rocky, and allows 2 to 4 hours, on its trail page updated September 21, 2023. The tradeoff: the bottom is the halfway point. Hiked on your own, the way out is the 900 foot climb back up the same path, and the park asks for closed-toe shoes, lunch, a hat, repellent and plenty of water. Parking at the trailhead is limited, and the park's hiking page asks hikers to share a car or take a taxi. Two rules apply at the bottom. Eating and drinking are banned inside historic structures, the sugar factory included, and the 2026 compendium closes the shoreline between Reef Bay and Europa Bay at the White Cliffs. A leashed dog may walk the trail but not the beach at the end. ## Can you hike Reef Bay with a ranger? Yes, and the guided hike skips the climb out. The park and Friends of Virgin Islands National Park, its partner group, run a guided Reef Bay hike, on the park's Ranger Programs page updated December 28, 2025. Check-in is at the Cruz Bay visitor center at 7:45 a.m., with no parking there for the program, so arrive on foot or by taxi. A ranger leads the walk down, and a boat of about 40 minutes brings the group back to the Cruz Bay dock; the park says weather rarely stops it, and then the way out is on foot. There is a fee, which the page names without printing an amount; booking is through the page's own link. Cancel with 48 hours' notice and half is refunded or credited. ## Ram Head Trail from Salt Pond Bay By car, then on foot: 41 minutes from Cruz Bay to the Salt Pond lot, then a 10 minute walk to the beach where the trail starts. The walk in comes first. The Salt Pond Bay trail is about a quarter mile on an old dirt road that the park says can wash out, uneven and rocky with a moderate slope. The park allows 5 to 20 minutes, depending on how much you carry. From the sand, the headland trail climbs 0.9 mile to the summit of Ram Head, which the park's place page rates steep and strenuous, with 30 to 50 minutes from the beach on its trail page. It is a narrow path, and the park lists restrooms at Salt Pond and no drinking water. Carry all the water for both trails from the car. ## Cinnamon Bay Trail and the loop through the ruins By car: 17 minutes from Cruz Bay to the Cinnamon Bay beach lot on North Shore Road. Two hikes start at the Cinnamon Bay ruins, across the road from the campground entrance. The nature loop is 0.5 mile and easy, 15 to 30 minutes with the signs read, and its boardwalk through the ruins takes a stroller or a wheelchair, per the park's page updated March 30, 2021. The Cinnamon Bay Trail is the other kind. It starts east of the ruins and climbs one mile through shaded forest to Centerline Road, strenuous in the park's word, with a 0.38 mile spur to the ruins of America Hill, an estate great house. The park names no pickup at the top, so unless a car meets you there, the walk back down is part of the hike. ## Lind Point Trail, the hike from the ferry On foot: 8 minutes from the ferry dock to the park visitor center, where the trail starts. Solomon Beach is 16 minutes on from there by our measurement. The Lind Point Trail climbs behind the visitor center to an overlook of Cruz Bay harbor and the boats to St. Thomas, with benches, then branches down to Solomon and Honeymoon beaches. The park allows 20 to 40 minutes, calls it a narrow, rocky trail, and says it is not accessible. Drivers get a parking pass at the visitor center or use the first two gravel lots on North Shore Road, where a second trailhead joins the same paths. ## Yawzi Point at Lameshur, short but far By car: 45 minutes from Cruz Bay to the Little Lameshur lot, the last stretch a rocky road the park recommends for four-wheel drive. Yawzi Point is the easiest trail on this list to walk and the hardest to reach. It runs 0.3 mile from the beach to the crest of the point between the two Lameshur bays, 30 to 50 minutes there and back, narrow and rocky, and the park warns it is buggy early and late in the day (NPS, as checked October 8, 2026). Ask the rental company before you take that road. ## Heat, water and the park's trail rules The heat sets the pace. The average high at the nearest weather station runs from 84 °F in January to 90 °F in July and August, on NOAA's 1991 to 2020 normals, and the hiking page asks for at least half a gallon for each four hours of hiking, the park's minimum. Its safety page, updated September 15, 2022, adds bug spray, staying on the marked trail, and watching for low cactus that breaks off against a leg. The 2026 Superintendent's Compendium, updated October 6, 2026, bans bicycles on every park trail and bans leaving a trail to shortcut between parts of it. The park's hiking page also asks you not to hike alone, not to climb on fragile historic structures and not to leave valuables unattended. Questions people ask **How long is the Reef Bay Trail?** About three miles one way from Centerline Road to the beach, per the National Park Service's trail page, updated September 21, 2023, so about six miles there and back. The climb out gains 900 feet, and the park allows 2 to 4 hours. Guides that print 2.2 or 2.4 miles disagree with the park's figure. **How long is the Cinnamon Bay Trail?** One mile, uphill from just east of the Cinnamon Bay ruins to Centerline Road, which the National Park Service calls strenuous. The easy nature loop at the same ruins is 0.5 mile and takes 15 to 30 minutes. **Is the Salt Pond Bay trail hard?** No, but it is rough. The National Park Service puts it at about a quarter mile from the lot, uneven and rocky with a moderate slope, on an old dirt road that can wash out, and allows 5 to 20 minutes. The hard trail at Salt Pond is Ram Head, which starts from the beach. At a glance · checked Oct 2026 **Trails** More than 20 in Virgin Islands National Park National Park Service hiking page, last updated September 8, 2022. **Cost** Free; no permit or reservation for a self-guided hike NPS Reef Bay Trail page (September 21, 2023): no activity fee, no reservation, open year-round. **Longest** Reef Bay, about 3 miles one way, 900 ft climb out Steep and strenuous, 2 to 4 hours, per the same page. The trailhead is at about mile marker 5 on Centerline Road. **Shortest** Salt Pond Bay, about a quarter mile 5 to 20 minutes from the lot, per NPS (August 14, 2018); 10 minutes by our walking measurement, 2026-10-05. **Water** At least half a gallon for each 4 hours of hiking The park's minimum, on its hiking page (September 8, 2022). No trail on this page lists drinking water at the trailhead. **Dogs** Leashed on trails, never on beaches Leash 6 feet or shorter, per the NPS Reef Bay Trail page; the 2026 Superintendent's Compendium bans pets on park beaches. **Bicycles** Not allowed on any park trail 2026 Superintendent's Compendium, updated October 6, 2026. More on St. John - [Things to do in St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do) - [Scuba diving on St. John, Virgin Islands](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/diving) - [St. John snorkeling, from the beach and by boat](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/snorkeling) - [Virgin Islands National Park](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/national-park) - [Cruz Bay to Jost Van Dyke](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/things-to-do/jost-van-dyke) - [How to get around St. John](https://virginislandvilla.com/st-john/getting-around) Facts checked against [the National Park Service](https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/reef-bay-trail.htm). Checked October 2026.