Salt River Bay NHP and Ecological Preserve - St. Croix

Shopping | Dining | Tours and Daytrips | Points of Interest | History | Calendar of Events | Golf

This recently created US National Park was created in 1992 and encompasses 1,015 acres of land and water that is both historically and ecologically significant. Christopher Columbus anchored in Salt River during his second visit to the New World. This site is marked by a lighted buoy which does double duty as an entry beacon for sailors wanting to cross White Horse Reef. On Nov 14, 1493, Columbus' crew encountered natives in canoes in the Bay. They exchanged shots, making this the first documented encounter of armed resistance to European colonization, the area is now referred to as Columbus Landing. In addition to the historical markers and trails that explain the anthropological significance of the area, Columbus Landing Beach is a good place to try snorkeling. Kayak tours of the bay are run by Caribbean Adventure tours, our favorite is the nighttime tour. The visitors center is open during high season, Nov - April. It was Columbus that named the island Santa Cruz, or Holy Cross, later changed under French rule to Sainte Croix and then anglicized to Saint Croix.

Salt River Bay National Park and Ecological Preserve includes some of the largest mangrove forests left in the Virgin Islands, Salt River Canyon - an underwater canyon dropping more than 13,000 feet and the most requested scuba diving area on St. Croix, estuaries and seagrass beds that are important habitat for many birds and marine animals, White Horse Reef (so named because the waves crashing over it at a specific point looks like the image of a white horse), and a freshwater marsh.

This US National Park covers an impressive era of human culture as well - from the prehistoric to the modern. All three major Native American cultures, the Igneri's, the Taino's, and the Carib's inhabited this area. Many historians believe it was a significant religious and cultural center for all of them. Christopher Columbus brought Europeans; the remains of the oldest known Fort in the Americas, Fort Flamand, is located in SRBNHP. This was the original capital of the island before it was moved down the coast to what is present day Christiansted. And of course, the West African slave trade was an active part of the sugar plantations.