St John

Known as the "Wild Virgin", St John lies less than 3mi/5km east of St Thomas and is the smallest of the U.S. Virgin Islands with a total land area of 28sq.mi/74sq.km. Only the extreme east and west ends of the mountainous island lie beyond the borders of the Virgin Islands National Park, which encompasses two-thirds of the entire island.

St John is an oasis for nature-lovers looking to escape the bustle of tourism on St Thomas and St Croix. There are 40 beaches on the island and 22 well maintained hiking trails snaking the terrain, leading hikers from vacant beaches to plantation ruins and over steep slopes such as Bordeaux Mountain (1277ft/389m). Snorkelling, scuba trips, hiking and sea kayaking are popular activities on St John. About 4,000 people live on St John, mostly in the main settlement and port of entry, Cruz Bay. The quieter settlement of Coral Bay is found on the eastern end of the island. A vast population of feral animals such as wild goats, pigs, cats and burros make St John their home.

The first known inhabitants of St John were the Taíno native Indians. In the 1700s, Danish settlers were attracted by the island's lucrative prospects of cultivating sugar cane and established a thriving agricultural society. By 1733 St John had 109 plantations and a population of 208 whites and 1,087 black slaves.

St John was ravaged by a hurricane the same year, and living conditions on the island were reduced to an environment of mere survival. The slaves endured hideous treatment, and a revolt lasting six months resulted in murder and devastation for the white planters. Little changed on St John during the British occupations of the Virgin Islands from 1801-02 and 1807-15.

Slaves were emancipated in 1848, and economic conditions on the island worsened. Upon the sale of the Virgin Islands to the U.S. in 1917, St John's plantations had been abandoned and the island was depopulated. In the 1950s, U.S. millionaire Laurence Rockefeller began purchasing large pieces of St John and built a large resort on Caneel Bay. In 1956 Rockefeller donated more than 5,000ac/2,024ha of land to the U.S. government, which designated the land as a national park the same year.

Since the 1950s the government has expanded the park by another 4,000ac/1,619ha and remains committed to keeping St John wild forever. Recent years have seen St John's development as a vacation retreat, however ecotourism remains the island's main draw for visitors.