Reef Bay Trail and Sugar Plantation
Named hiking route
This popular trail descends through a shady, moist forest, passing through the remains of four sugar estates. Signs along the trail provide information about the natural and cultural history of the area including the names and traditional uses of the trees and plants. The trail ends at the impressive Reef Bay Sugar Estate with its old buildings and steam-powered machinery.
A side trail at mile 1.6 leads to a waterfall and petroglyphs attributed to early Taino Indians.
- States
- VI
- Trail type
- National Park trail
- Centroid coords
- 18.3478°, -64.7427°
About Virgin Islands National Park
This trail is inside Virgin Islands National Park, a national park managed by the U.S. National Park Service. Conditions, road status, trail closures, and reservation requirements are published on the park's NPS page — check it before driving in, especially in winter or during major weather events.
Official NPS trail page: https://www.nps.gov/places/reef-bay-trail-and-sugar-plantation.htm
Park homepage: https://www.nps.gov/viis/index.htm
Plan your hike
Maps + permits: long-distance trails like this often require permits for through-hiking, backcountry camping, or specific sections (especially in National Parks). Check with the maintaining organisation listed above and the relevant land manager before booking travel.
Water + supplies: water sources vary seasonally on most U.S. trails. Carry a filter and consult current trail-condition reports — through-hiker journals (PCT-L, AT Reddit, etc.) and the maintaining organisation publish regular updates.
When to go: hiking seasons vary widely with elevation, latitude, and snowpack. Through-hikers traditionally start the AT in March-April (Springer northbound) and the PCT in late April (Campo northbound). High-elevation western trails (CDT, JMT, Wonderland) generally aren't passable until July.
If you've hiked Reef Bay Trail and Sugar Plantation and have current notes (water sources, trail closures, permit changes), tell us at /contact — we update pages as we learn.
Other trails within 50 miles
Sources
Trail data on this page is compiled from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), the maintaining organisation's public-facing materials, and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA where excerpts are quoted). Distance, terminus, and descriptive text for nationally-designated trails are hand-curated from federal land-manager websites and trail-association sources. We do not modify the underlying data; this page presents what is already publicly recorded. To suggest corrections, see our methodology page.