Hiking the Cinnamon Bay Trail in Virgin Islands National Park
Distance (One Way): 1.1 miles / 1.8 km
Elevation Gain: ~800 ft. / 244 m
The Cinnamon Bay Trail in Virgin Islands National Park is a short and fairly easy adventure that connects the popular Cinnamon Bay Beach to Centerline Road, or it can be hiked in reverse for an all-downhill day hike if some in your party are more interested in spending time at the beach!
This is something that I like to highlight about a number of the adventures that can begin off Centerline Road, because what can be a fairly easy out-and-back adventure can be even easier by getting dropped off at the Upper Trailhead.
All this aside, the Cinnamon Bay Trail is most often hiked from the bottom to top, as this is the most straightforward route to hike the America Hill Trail and to access the best viewpoint on the hike, located just over the halfway mark between North Shore Road at the bottom and Centerline Road at the top.
Cinnamon Bay Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Cinnamon Bay Trail is located in one of two places, depending on which direction you choose to begin.
The first is the Lower Cinnamon Bay Trailhead—the same parking area that also serves Cinnamon Bay Beach, the Cinnamon Bay Loop 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.
The second and much less popular parking area is the Upper Cinnamon Bay Trailhead directly off Centerline Road.
Google Maps Directions: Lower Cinnamon Bay Trailhead / Upper Cinnamon Bay 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 Trail
Lower Cinnamon Bay Trailhead
This is the hike beginning from the Lower Cinnamon Bay Trailhead, located at the far eastern end of the beach before North Shore Road leaves Cinnamon Bay toward Maho Beach.
In terms of elevation gain, the very beginning of the hike is the most challenging section of the Cinnamon Bay Trail.
However, this very steep section only lasts about 0.1 miles (0.2 km) before the hike levels out.
This is where the steep elevation change at the very beginning of the Cinnamon Bay Trail comes to an end.
Once the Cinnamon Bay Trail crosses this typically dry stream, the America Hill Junction is just a few steps ahead!
Cinnamon Bay-America Hill Junction
After about 0.2 miles (0.3 km), the Cinnamon Bay Trail reaches the only junction on the entire hike, the start of the true America Hill Trail.
Once here, go straight to continue hiking up toward Centerline Road and the best viewpoint on the hike, about halfway from this point and the Upper Cinnamon Bay Trailhead.
Read My Separate Post: America Hill Trail
After the America Hill junction, the Cinnamon Bay Trail continues to climb gradually and remains this way until the three switchbacks just below the main viewpoint on the trail.
This tree is Bay Rum, and it’s one of the most common native and popular trees in Virgin Islands National Park, as it’s known for its natural scent used commercially in fragrances, soaps, colognes, and aftershave products.
To know for sure if you’ve positively identified Bay Rum, tear one of the leaves and smell it! There’s no mistaking its strong scent—and this is coming from someone who can smell almost nothing!
This broad-leafed plant is one of the most common native plants in the forest understory of Virgin Islands National Park, and it thrives in the high humidity and partial sunlight on trails across St. John.
These two quick switchbacks are a nice sign that the three longer switchbacks are just a short distance ahead.
This is the first of the three major switchbacks on the Cinnamon Bay Trail before the viewpoint, which marks the beginning of the steepest section following the very initial ascent at the Lower Trailhead.
This is where the Cinnamon Bay Trail turns the second switchback before the viewpoint.
This is the third and final switchback before the viewpoint.
This is the one and only viewpoint on the Cinnamon Bay Trail—meaning that from this point on, the trail simply winds its way through the trees until it reaches Centerline Road.
After the viewpoint, there is roughly 0.4 miles (0.6 km) left to reach the Upper Trailhead.
These final sections on the Cinnamon Bay Trail are very gradual compared to the switchbacks leading up to the viewpoint.
Upper Cinnamon Bay Trailhead
This is where the Cinnamon Bay Trail reaches the Upper Trailhead off Centerline Road.
As previously mentioned, the Upper Cinnamon Bay Trailhead is far less popular than the Lower Trailhead, which is largely the case for three main reasons.
The first is that the Cinnamon Bay Trail does not connect to any other day hikes, like both the Maria Hope Trail and Reef Bay Trail do at mile marker five.
The second is that the Upper Trailhead is far from the start of the America Hill Trail, making it more inconvenient to hike to the America Hill Ruins.
Finally, it’s often preferred to hike uphill first, saving the much easier downhill hike for the way back.
All of these factors contribute to making the Upper Cinnamon Bay Trailhead one of the least popular trailheads off Centerline Road, but again, it can be a great drop-off point for an all-down hill adventure!
