Parking
The upper access has a small roadside pull-off on Centerline Road. The lower access is on North Shore Road just south of the trail. Leave a car at one end and arrange a pickup, or walk back up the trail.
Overview
About Water Catchment Trail
Why go
- A close look at the old resort water system
Heads up
- A steep drop and three confusing Caneel Hill junctions
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Virgin Islands map
Full mapElevation138–581 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
3 active Virgin Islands alerts
- ClosureCaneel Bay: designated areas only; pier closedMentions Caneel Bay, referenced in this guideAt Caneel Bay, stay in designated public areas; other areas remain closed because of present safety risks, and the pier remains closed because it has been deemed unsafe.Official details
- CautionModerate rip-current risk at U.S. Virgin Islands beachesThe National Weather Service reports a moderate rip-current risk for the U.S. Virgin Islands. - Choose a guarded or more protected beach and swim near a lifeguard.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Virgin Islands Tour Guide
Your drive to Water Catchment 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
Water Catchment Trail and the Old Basin0:00 / 0:23
“The upper Water Catchment trailhead on Centerline Road is ahead.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Virgin Islands Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Hawksnest Bay and Oppenheimer Beach
- Caneel Beach and the Old Resort
- Peace Hill Windmill and Views
- Jumbie Beach
- 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 Water Catchment Trail
A short, steep connectorThe Water Catchment Trail is a 0.
The Water Catchment Trail is a 0.7-mile one-way route from the upper Centerline Road access down to North Shore Road. It drops about 440 feet through wooded hillside and passes the old Caneel Bay water basin. Allow roughly 30 minutes downhill. Decide your ride back before you start: this is a through-route, and turning it into an out-and-back means climbing the same hill.
Keep to the Water Catchment lineThree junctions with Caneel Hill Trail make route-finding harder than the distance suggests.
Three junctions with Caneel Hill Trail make route-finding harder than the distance suggests. Stay on the signed Water Catchment route at each split; the middle switchback is easiest to mistake. Near the lower end, the path passes the basin facility. Stay outside its fence and service gate.
Why the basin is hereCaneel Bay Resort used the concrete basin and holding tank to collect rainwater, with pumped…
Caneel Bay Resort used the concrete basin and holding tank to collect rainwater, with pumped water from the resort’s desalination plant as a supplement. The tank sat high enough for treated water to flow down to resort buildings by gravity. That utility story is the hike’s real payoff; this is a short connector walk rather than a big-view trail.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Virgin Islands
150 sightingsWhite-tailed DeerMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
114 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.
