Francis Bay Trail

Hiking trails St. JohnLast verified October 31, 2026

Around St. John

The white beach of Trunk Bay and the small, wooded Trunk Cay seen from the hillside above — Trunk Bay, St. John

Sailboats moored in Cruz Bay below red-roofed buildings on the hillside of St. John — Cruz Bay, St. John

Boats anchored off a palm-lined beach in Cruz Bay, St. John, beneath tall white clouds — Cruz Bay, St. John

The Francis Bay Trail is an easy walk at Francis Bay, off North Shore Road in Virgin Islands National Park, that the park recommends for bird watching. It starts at the ruins of the Francis Bay sugar factory, passes the Mary's Point estate house and circles a salt pond through dry tropical forest. From the factory parking area it is 0.5 mile to an accessible boardwalk, which crosses the mangroves to two viewing platforms over the pond and suits wheelchairs and strollers. The rest of the trail is rocky with slight hills, and the climb from the factory lot to the beach is steep, so the park suggests parking at the beach end. The park estimates 30 to 90 minutes. Friends of Virgin Islands National Park leads a free bird walk on Fridays at 7:30 a.m., October to June, starting at the factory ruins.

Services

Accessible boardwalk to two salt pond viewing platforms
Free Friday bird walk at 7:30 a.m., October to June (Friends of Virgin Islands National Park)
Parking at the factory ruins or at the beach end
No fee
Leashed dogs on the trail, not on the beach

How we checked

Last verified on October 31, 2026. We checked it against the sources below.

Source: National Park Service pages https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/francis-bay-trail.htm (updated April 2, 2021; starts at the Francis Bay sugar factory, Mary's Point estate house, salt pond and dry tropical forest, birding, accessible boardwalk through the mangroves to two platforms, 0.5 mile from the factory parking area to the ramp, 30 to 90 minutes, rocky with slight hills, steep climb from the factory lot, easier access from the beach end; the page places the trail on the 'west end' of North Shore Road, which this entry does not repeat), https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/discover-bird-watching-in-the-virgin-islands.htm (bird watching on the Francis Bay Trail), https://www.nps.gov/viis/learn/management/compendium.htm (updated October 6, 2026; pets prohibited on beaches) and the park alerts feed https://www.nps.gov/viis/park-alerts-viis.json (no closure posted); Friends of Virgin Islands National Park, https://friendsvinp.org/seminars-and-more/ (free bird walk, Fridays, October to June, 7:30 a.m. at the George Francis factory ruins); all accessed 2026-10-31. Map point: NPS Data API things-to-do record 'Francis Bay Trail' (18.36244, -64.74268), https://developer.nps.gov/api/v1/thingstodo?parkCode=viis, accessed 2026-10-31.

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