Brown Bay

Which island? Never heard of a "Brown Bay" on STT or STJ. And why are you asking?

Brown Bay is on St. John, I believe. Is this right Bill?

How did you get to it? It is my understanding that getting to it involves a somewhat rigorous hike on an unmaintained trail and there is a bit of rock scrambling involved.

Am I right about this? If so, that might explain why you were the only one there............

I would be interested to hear more about the beach and the hike as my husband enjoys challenging hikes. I might even join him, but it will need to be during the winter when the temps drop a few degrees.

Happy trails :)!!!

Mell,
You are correct in believing that it is on St John. It is a north shore beach. It much further east than most people travel, including most locals in my opinion. There are two ways of getting there. One end of the Brown Bay trail is along the Johnny Horn Trail somewhere north of Coral Bay, I doubt many people get there this way because it would require you to hike there from Waterlemon or from Coral Bay. The other way to get there ivolves taking Rte. 10 east of Coral Bay. A little past Estate Zootenvaal on the left side is a small parking area along with a big sign "National Park Service Firearms Range: Restricted Access". Just on the right side of the sign is the beginning of the Brown Bay trail. The trail goes up to an elevations of about 250, and then descends towards the north shore. Part way down is a small spur which will go down to the beach. Someone placed some ropes to help guide the way, thanks to whoever did the work. The trail may be unmaintained, but it didn't seem to be in bad shape. I don't considered it an extremely difficult trail, but it's not one that should be done in flip flops or without pleny of water. It's probably not a trail for people who can't handle hiking in the heat or people who have trouble with the hills. It didn't look like it was all that accessible by boat either, so I have a feeling that anytime that someone goes there that they will be the only ones there. I figured that being a holiday weekend last week there might have been some people there, but I was the only one.

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the info :)!

How was the beach? Nice?

Sounds like an interesting little spot!!!

I'm also curious about the beach itself. Of course now you've let the cat out of the bag and no doubt there will be many curiosity-seekers tramping their way down there. But that too shall pass!

Most of the bay is coblestone and coral, with only a small portion of the bay being a sand beach. Compared to pretty much all of the other beaches on the island I would say that it is a small beach. Plenty of room for people to lay out and sun themselves, although I doubt it ever gets crowded enough for the sandy part to ever get close to filled. It's enough of a hike that I doubt that you will ever see any lounge chairs, it will pretty much only be towels. It's not the best of places to go swimming, but the snorkeling would probably be nice. One other thing that I didn't mention in previous notes is that there is a ruin right next to the beach. I didn't do much exploring while I was there, but it is right next to the beach.

Bill - it is so often true that it is the vacationers and not the locals who explore an island in depth and try out everything while they are here.

Hello,

It’s off the beaten track in comparison to Reef Bay Trail and Cinnamon Bay trail ect. but the Brown Bay trail is one that the National Park includes in their list of trails. Here is the description:

(Distance: 1.6 miles, Approximate Time: 2 hours)
The National Park cautions that this trail is NOT maintained! The trail begins from the ridge 0.7 miles out of Johnny Horn trail from Waterlemon Bay. The trail branches to the east and descends through a dry thorn shrub area and into a valley. The trail borders Brown Bay for a short distance and then ascends over a ridge which overlooks Hurricane Hole. The trail ends at the East End Road just a little over a mile passed the Emmaus Moravian Church in Coral Bay.

For residents interested in exploring St. John there are a couple great guidebooks that aren't the typical vacation guide so are good for residents too. They cover trails, off the beaten track ruins, snorkeling sites ect. One is called St. John Off the Beaten Track the other St. John, Feets, Fins & Four Wheel Drive. We have both of them on the site if you want to read about them or order them, http://www.vitraders.com. There is also a small pocket map called 'The Trail Bandit Guide to The Hiking Trails of St. John VI'. It includes the National Park trails and about a dozen others that are more off the beaten track. We also have that map on the store; it’s in the map section.

--Islander

I ended up only taking the section of the trail between Rte. 10 and the beach. At the time I didn't feel like taking the section between the beach and Johnny Horn trail, so I am not sure what kind of condition it is in. I have a feeling that it would feel crowded with more than one group there just because it is so far out on the island and it isn't really accessible by boat. I've read both of those books and they are pretty good for information on things to do on the islands.