America Hill Ruins, Virgin Islands National Park

Let’s talk about this spectacular hike to America Hill Ruins! Will and I spent ten dreamy days exploring the lovely island of St. John because we wanted to see Virgin Islands National Park.

Make sure to read our complete Guide to Virgin Islands National Park.

The island itself is very tiny (about the same size as Manhattan), so if you find yourself staying on the island as long as we did, you’ll soon realize that you’ll be eating at the same two/three restaurants in town and getting to know the locals that work there.

We did a lot of research before embarking on our trip and found it disheartening that a lot of the hikes we were interested in weren’t very well marked – either on the map or on the trail.

So, after a few days of going it alone, we decided to ask the locals about their favorite hikes in Virgin Islands National Park. One of our waitresses recommended hiking the Cinnamon Bay Trail to America Hill Ruins.

The trail begins at Cinnamon Bay, it actually veers off from the Cinnamon Bay trail, so you can park directly at the trailhead. The entire hike is about one uphill mile and takes an hour.

The ruins at the top were my favorite from the entire trip so I can’t recommend this hike enough!

So, without further ado or blabbing, here are some photos of the ruins. Hope you enjoy!

The weather in the Virgin Islands during the month of August hovers around 80 degrees and feels very muggy (or, as my mother in law would say, “it’s like a nice warm blanket!”).

I recommend bringing an extra water bottle with you whenever you hike because the heat takes it out of you! We were so sweaty by the time we got to the top! The tradeoff, however, is the warmth of the water – oh man, just thinking about it makes me homesick for the island.

The water is SO warm! Will calls it bathwater. ????