Wallings Nature Reserve

Wallings Nature Reserve protects a swathe of cool, evergreen woodland in the volcanic hills of south-west Antigua, the greenest corner of an otherwise dry island. In 2018 it became the country's first community-managed national park, run by local people to safeguard the catchment forest and open it to visitors. The reserve climbs through the Sherkley (Signal Hill) range, well inland of the resorts at Jolly Harbour, and stays several degrees cooler than the coast under its closed canopy.

At its heart is the historic Wallings reservoir, a substantial stone dam built by the British between roughly 1890 and 1900 to supply the island with fresh water. When full it once held around 13 million gallons. The dam and its overflow now sit half-swallowed by forest, and in the wet season water spills down the rock face to form one of the few cascades on the island. The mahogany, white cedar, silk-cotton, and mango trees that shade the trails grew up around the protected catchment over the following century.

The reserve is laced with marked footpaths. The flagship route climbs to the Signal Hill vista, the island's second-highest point at about 1,200 feet, on a moderately demanding out-and-back of roughly four kilometres that opens onto views across the south coast. Gentler loops circle the reservoir and the Button Pond catchment, while a longer, rougher trail strikes out toward the cliffs above Rendezvous Bay. Hummingbirds, warblers, and the occasional fallow deer move through the understorey.

Wallings sits just off Fig Tree Drive, the lush scenic road through the south-west, and pairs naturally with it for a half day inland. Our separate Wallings Nature Reserve attraction page covers the visitor essentials; here the focus is the forest and its trail network. Wear proper shoes, carry water and insect repellent, and start early, as the climbs are hot work by midday even under the canopy.