Hiking the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail in Virgin Islands National Park
Distance: 0.5 miles / 0.8 km
The Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail, also called the Cinnamon Bay Nature Trail, in Virgin Islands National Park is a very short loop near Cinnamon Bay Beach that traverses one of the few remaining stands of intact native forest on St. John, often called the island’s old-growth because it is such a beautifully preserved forest that resembles what the landscape once looked like prior to the Danish plantation era!
Yes, the vast majority of the island was cleared for sugar and cotton plantations from the early 1700s through the mid-1800s, leaving few intact native stands of tropical forest today—the Cinnamon Bay Loop being one of the most accessible.
On a different note, the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail is also one of the easiest day hikes in Virgin Islands National Park!
I mention this because the majority of trails across the island experience quite a bit of elevation change, but the Cinnamon Bay Loop and a few others, like the Leinster Bay Trail, have little to no elevation change, making them the best and easiest family-friendly hikes on the island!
Cinnamon Bay Loop Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail is located at the Cinnamon Bay Trailhead—the same parking area that also serves Cinnamon Bay Beach, the Cinnamon Bay Trail, and the America Hill Trail.
As a result, finding parking to hike any of these three trails out of Cinnamon Bay can be very difficult by mid-morning, given that Cinnamon Bay Beach is one of the most popular North Shore beaches in Virgin Islands National Park.
Google Maps Directions: Cinnamon Bay Loop Trailhead
Hiking Checklist - Virgin Islands
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in Virgin Islands National Park.
Hiking the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail
The Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail begins across North Shore Road from the main parking area that serves both the beach and the trails.
This is also the path that leads to the Cinnamon Bay Factory Ruins.
Cinnamon Bay Factory Ruins
After just a few steps, the trail will pass the Cinnamon Bay Factory Ruins, the site of an 18th-century Danish sugar plantation complex that once included a sugar mill, plantation house, slave quarters, cemeteries, and other structures associated with the island’s colonial-era sugar industry.
Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail
This is the start of the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail, where hikers can walk in either direction to begin hiking through the native overstory forest that begins just a few steps past the ruins.
From here, I chose to go left in the clockwise direction around the loop, which is the most common direction hikers choose to begin the trail at this split.
This is where the Cinnamon Bay Loop leaves the Factory Ruins behind to begin the most beautiful sections of the hike through the island’s native Bay Rum–Genip old-growth forest!
Hjardemaal Graves
Just a short walk past the Cinnamon Bay Factory Ruins, the trail passes the above-ground graves, or crypts, of the former estate owner, Anna Margaretha Berner Hjardemaal, and one of her children, who is believed to be the other.
After the graves, the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail continues up the valley toward the top of the loop, passing a number of interpretive signs along the way.
This large nest is a native Arboreal Termite nest, which can easily be seen along trails throughout Virgin Islands National Park!
This is the uppermost portion of the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail, where the loop turns back toward the Cinnamon Bay Factory Ruins at the beginning of the hike.
Cacao is not a native tree on the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail, but it is very common here and throughout the tropics around the world, as this is the tree from which chocolate is produced!
Compared to all the other trails throughout Virgin Islands National Park, the one thing I hope these photos show is just how flat the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail really is, which is exactly why I mentioned at the beginning that it can be a great family-friendly adventure to consider when visiting St. John!
Cinnamon Bay Estate House
Just before the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail returns to the beginning, the loop passes the Estate House, the home of the Cinnamon Bay Estate owners and managers before it was abandoned in 1968.
Cinnamon Bay Loop Junction
After about 0.4 miles (0.6 km) from the trailhead, the Cinnamon Bay Loop Trail returns to the initial split where the loop first left the Factory Ruins.
From this point, walk up the stairs and go left to return to the trailhead.
