Parking
Use the Salt Pond Bay parking area, about 3.9 miles south of Coral Bay. Parking is limited; restrooms and a picnic table are available at the access area.
Overview
About Drunk Bay Trail
Why go
- A salt pond and a strikingly different rocky coast on the same walk.
- Open surf and dark rock outcrops make a memorable destination.
Heads up
- The unpaved approach is rocky and mostly unshaded.
- Drunk Bay is unsafe for swimming, and parking is limited.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Virgin Islands map
Full mapElevation3–102 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
1 active Virgin Islands alert
- ClosureCaneel Bay restricted areas and closed pierAt Caneel Bay, use only designated public areas; other areas and the pier remain closed. - Areas beyond the public areas remain closed because of present safety risks.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Virgin Islands Tour Guide
Your drive to Drunk Bay Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Virgin Islands National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this trailhead
Salt Pond Bay and Ram Head0:00 / 0:34
“Salt Pond Bay's parking area is coming up, with a rocky quarter-mile walk down to the beach. The sandy middle gives you a gentle water entry, while the rocky edges are the more interesting snorkeling.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Virgin Islands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Cactus Comes of Age
- The Fish That Make Sand
- Corals Beneath the Mangroves
- North and South Haulover Beaches
- 26 audio storiesacross Virgin Islands’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor White-tailed Deer, Green Iguana, Brown Pelican, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 22 trails, 42 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Drunk Bay Trail
What the walk includesDrunk Bay Trail is an out-and-back from the Salt Pond Bay access area to a rugged, open-water…
Drunk Bay Trail is an out-and-back from the Salt Pond Bay access area to a rugged, open-water shore. From the parking area, the complete mapped outing is about 1.8 miles round trip, including the approach and return. Allow about an hour to an hour and a half if you stop at the pond and coast. The short figure sometimes given for the named bay spur describes only its final stretch; this longer outing also follows the access path.
Follow the pond-side pathThe route leaves the limited parking area on a graded, unpaved path through dry scrub, then…
The route leaves the limited parking area on a graded, unpaved path through dry scrub, then follows the north side of Salt Pond toward Drunk Bay. The footing is uneven and rocky, with a moderate slope on the access section and little shade. At the beach end, stay on the Drunk Bay branch; Ram Head is a separate trail. Carry water and sun protection, as there is no drinking water along the route.
At the shoreDrunk Bay ends at a rough, rocky coast facing open-ocean swell, not a sheltered swimming beach.
Drunk Bay ends at a rough, rocky coast facing open-ocean swell, not a sheltered swimming beach. Waves break around dark jagged outcrops and pale shore stones, and wet rocks can be slick. Stay back from wave-washed rocks and don't swim here. For a photo, include a dark outcrop in front of the surf, with the low islands on the horizon.
Salt left in the pondAn older trail account records island residents harvesting accumulated salt from the pond in…
An older trail account records island residents harvesting accumulated salt from the pond in May and June, and describes wind-stunted plants near the shore. It is a historical note; we could not confirm whether salt harvesting continues today.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Virgin Islands
151 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
115 sightingsGreen IguanaMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
62 sightingsBrown PelicanMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
35 sightingsGreen Sea TurtleMost seen around noonSighting map
32 sightingsAmerican FlamingoMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
26 sightingsNurse SharkMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Virgin Islands. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
