Hiking in Nelson’s Dockyard National Park and other Antigua and Barbuda Sports Travel Tips

Theme: Hiking

There are five hiking paths in Nelson’s Dockyard National Park, all maintained by The Royal Naval Tot Society of Antigua. In fact, I didn’t know how many of there are until I came back. I discovered four, with one being to the west and three to the east of the bay. It’s quite simple to follow them: Just look out for stones and trees marked with a white dot and you’ll find the way through this incredible landscape of southeastern Antigua. Sometimes you’ll have to look twice before you find the next white dot and sometimes you think for yourself: “Do they really want me to go THAT way?”. This means that basic rock climbing skills are useful while high heel shoes are surely not (Before you ask, I have some of A and none of B). Especially the last two pathes are a little more difficult to walk on than the others. But Number 4 is also the one with the best views among them. All paths are seldomly used by tourists, making this a real “off the beaten path” experience. In fact, I didn’t see any other people on any of the paths. The paths are following:

1) Middle Ground Trail (Fort Berkeley – Pigeon Beach)
2) Jones Valley Trail (Shirley Heights Lookout/Barack buildings – Galleon Beach Road)
3) Lookout Trail (Shirley Heights Lookout – Galleon Beach Road)
4) Carpenter Rock Trail (Shirley Heights Lookout/Graveyard - Fort Charlotte/Galleon Beach)
5) Clarence House Trail (Old Wharf – Clarence House)

I tried 3 uphill as well as 2 and 4 downhill (2 on two ocassions). 1 goes up and down, so it doesn’t really matter from which side you come. I didn’t know about the existence of 5 until I returned to Germany. If you ask me to pick the best, I would say that 4 is by far the best, but 1 is also very good.

Attention: Hiking on these paths is NOT RECOMMENDED during rain or when rain is in sight. Your path may get slippery and muddy which can result in danger for yourself.


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Website: http://www.antiguamuseums.org/Natural.htm

Theme: Hiking

…is the only hiking path I discovered in the national park which was on the western side of the bay. The distance of this path is around a mile and goes from Pigeon Beach to Fort Berkeley (or v.v. of course…). It leads you through an arid landscape with an interesting flora, including many of the “Turks’ Head Cactus” and “Cephalocereus nobilis” (the publishing of this cactus’ nickname may lead to this tip being censored...). It is not uncommon to see goats on this path, but they do not any harm – at least not unless you come too close to them. That means that you also have to be careful with their dung and that you may encounter unpleasant odours at some part of the hiking trail. In terms of sights, you’ll see Fort Berkeley (see separate tip), One Gun Battery, some baracks and cistern ruins and the ruins of Fort Cuyler. Fort Cuyler was left mainly intact, with only its weapons removed and the traces of time visible. There is not much left of the barack and cistern buildings. Be careful when walking around here and do not use the structure connecting two of the cisterns as it may collaps under your weight. If someone is able to share some more knowledge about this place, just send me an e-mail.


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Website: http://www.antiguamuseums.org/Natural.htm

Theme: Hiking

...is the darkest of the hiking pathes in Nelson’s Dockyard National Park. It is also the only one which splits in the middle just to have the parts joined again some hundred meters later. It leads through a forest and a large part of this trail is located in a dry creek. Coming from the Lookout, the path starts right behind the large barracks building. You’ll see the ruins of a cistern, and afterwards a small graveyard. There, only a single one of the tombstones is readable, while the elements and time have washed away the letters on the others. Shortly after leaving the graveyard downhill, the path splits into two parts. I considered the one on the right hand side to be the more interesting one. Why? You’ll have more of the creek that follows. It goes through the ruin of a watermill, which is also the place where the two parts of the path join again. Throughout the creek, you’ll see small crabs – some of them rolling into the creek. But I think they were more present int the section which is not covered by the path on the left hand side. The last part of the trail includes walking over larger rocks. I preferred most other of the trails over this as the largest part of the trail is in the dark forest. However, that also means that you’ll see a totally different landscape you won’t see on the other trails. And that it is the path where you’ll less likely meet the inevitable goats.


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Website: http://www.antiguamuseums.org/Natural.htm

Theme: Hiking

In my opinion the most interesting of all the trails in the Nelson’s Dockyard National Park and also the most difficult to walk on. It takes you along the coastline with all its cliffs, its plants and also the usual goats. I walked it downhill from the barack ruins close to the “Lookout” to Fort Charlotte, close to Galleon Beach. The path starts quite idyllic with a wonderful view of the sea. As you continue the direction of the trail, you’ll come to an old, abandoned 19th century graveyard. Although this place is interesting in its own way, it means that you are on the wrong way. Return to the place where you got the last wonderful view on the ocean and look downhill. If you see the white dots there, you’ve found the rest of the path. And it will not be the last time for you to think “Do they really want me to walk THAT way?”. A walk downhill to the cliffs give you an even better view of the landscape than the one you had before uphill. When you reached a rock pointing into the ocean and there’s no possibility to walk further downhill, continue into the landscape with the yellow plants. I have no idea how these plants are called, but they make the orientation with the white dot system quite difficult and you’ll surely lose the path a couple of times. If you do so, no problem. Just walk to the rocks on the field of yellow plants, and climb them up. That’s one of the most difficult points among all the pathes in the National Park – but here you are at the famous “Carpenter Rock”. After passing this point, take time to enjoy the landscape and see where you have walked around. The ruins of a gun battery, making up the main part of Fort Charlotte, marks almost the end point of the trail. What I can say is that this hiking trail was among the hightlights of my whole Antigua trip.


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Website: http://www.antiguamuseums.org/Natural.htm

Theme: Hiking

I don’t know how (and even where exactly...) the Clarence House Trail is, so I can’t give all five hiking trails a ranking. However, among the four I used, Lookout Trail was the less exciting when it comes to terms of landscape. Most of the time you walk through an arid landscape and do some rock-climbing, while a part of this trail goes through a forest. But for forest, Jones Valley is the better choice, while the cactus forest is better represented at Middle Ground. And if you want the challenge of rock-climbing, Carpenter Rock is the best choice. And of all the trails, it is the only one without any ruins. Of course, it’s not that bad that you should avoid it by all means. I surely didn’t regret it and every new perspective you get at this beautiful landscape is worth some detour. But if you don’t have that much time, that’s the hiking trail I would skip.


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Directions: Coming from the bar at Shirley heights, walk towards the forest in the background. Coming from Galleon BEach, the beginning of the trail is on the right hand side of the road.
Website: http://www.antiguamuseums.org/Natural.htm