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The Virgin Islands National Park is Officially Open!!

trunk bay december 2017
Trunk Bay – Pic taken last week

We have absolutely amazing news to share with all of you today … the Virgin Islands National Park is officially open! That means that all the beaches, all the trails and all of the roads are open!

“Virgin Islands National Park is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in America and is a major economic contributor to the Island’s economy, which is why it will be an important part of rebuilding after this devastating hurricane season,” Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said in a release Wednesday. “We are very excited to declare the park open for business, just in time for the holidays when many tourists visit the Islands.”

“We’ve reached a major milestone at Virgin Islands National Park,” said Virgin Islands National Park Acting Superintendent Darrell Echols. “Maho Bay Beach reopened last Wednesday, we finished the rest of the beaches Thursday and Friday, and the remaining work at Annaberg Sugar Mill was completed Friday afternoon. We are excited to welcome visitors back to their park.”

Annaberg sugar mill - Pic taken last week
Annaberg sugar mill – Pic taken last week

All of the park beaches have been cleared of debris both above and underwater. All of the moorings have also been inspected. The ones that need additional work have been marked with red tags. The Park has installed either vault toilets or portable toilets at all of the major beaches.

“This was a huge undertaking,” Echols said. “Over the last three months, a host of federal employees from the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Forest Service have spent countless hours working with the park’s permanent staff to get us to where we are today. The Friends of Virgin Islands National Park contributed a crew of sawyers to help with the trails, and carpenters, electricians, and a host of other skilled responders repaired employee housing and other facilities. The park still has a large number of challenges ahead, such as removing 64 displaced vessels sunk within the park or washed upon the shore, and completing major repairs on utility systems, roads, and several park houses. This has been a job well done!”

I cannot say thank you enough to all who have been involved with this process. THANK YOU!!!

Now go ahead everyone and book your tickets back! 🙂

11 thoughts on “The Virgin Islands National Park is Officially Open!!”

  1. We have been booked since last August and never thought about cancellation. Can’t wait to visit our Paradise and put money back into your economy. Merry Christmas St John residents.❤️

  2. So happy to see these beautiful beaches coming back! Thought about coming down for a long weekend and I can’t believe there are no more direct flights from NY.

  3. Booked last March for our annual pilgrimage. feb- March. Booked flights in August. Donated $$ to a few storm relief orgs. Sent a bunch of solar gear and food to friends in Coral Bay. Waiting for internet at the place we stay in Coral Bay, but only thought about canceling for about two minutes. So glad the NPS got help and opened the park.

    • I do not believe so. They haven’t done any work on the campground yet. You may want to look for alternate accommodations.

  4. This IS such great news!! We can’t wait to get back there in May, 2018. Bringing friends with us. Tickets bought, villa rented, jeep reserved…..just waiting on May!
    Merry Christmas St John!

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