St. John, USVI
Lameshur Bay Trail

This hike connects with the popular Reef Bay Trail.

17. Lameshur Bay Trail

Length: 1.5 miles. Time: 1-1/4 hours, round trip. Difficulty: 2-3. There's a steep 467-foot high hill in your way.

Trailhead: You absolutely need a 4WD for this road. Starts at Great Lameshur Bay, which is reached by taking the Centerline Road (Rt. 10) to Coral Bay and turning right onto Route 107 at the harbor. Shortly after passing Salt Pond Bay the road turns gnarly, becoming mostly rubble and there is a steep hill to descend shortly before reaching Lameshur Bay. The trailhead is well marked and there's plenty of parking space. Also some ruins on the left.

This hike connects Lameshur Bay with the Reef Bay Trail. From the trailhead, it's 2.6 miles to the Reef Bay sugar mill ruins and 2.1 miles to the petroglyphs.

Going through open dry forest, it is a much tougher walk to the sugar mill ruins and the petroglyphs than coming in via Reef Bay Beach (in Hike 15). Within sight of the trailhead (unless it's been removed) is a sign that says No Crab Hunting.

The large land crabs are considered a great delicacy on many islands, including this one, but hunting them is prohibited inside park boundaries.

You'll pass 2 spur trails. One spur of 0.3 miles leads off to a small salt pond and Europa Bay, which is mostly a coral rubble beach.

Near the end of the hike as you're descending into Reef Bay Valley is a fork in the trail. The left path goes to the Reef Bay Trail. The right leads to the Reef Bay Great House.

At one time the national park was attempting to restore the house and did manage to replace the roof before funds ran out. It is unlikely the house will be restored anytime in the near future. Too bad because the architecture is worth preserving and the view is a good one.

The last resident of the house, Anna Marsh, was killed here and her jewelry stolen. The murderer was caught when he attempted to sell the jewelry in St. Thomas.

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