One of the most beautiful places in the Caribbean is Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John.

National Parks Traveler has a couple of pieces recently on the park. The first was on the park's 20 or so hiking trails.

There are no long hikes in Virgin Islands National Park. Indeed, the longest is the Caneel Trail, which runs but 2.4 miles one way. But what they lack in distance they more than make up in history, which is a hallmark of the Reef Bay Trail. In heading down to the sea you pass various plantation ruins dating to the early 1700s, a spur that leads little more than a quarter-mile to petroglyphs dating perhaps to 900 A.D., and one of the best-preserved ruins of a sugar plantation on the island of St. John.

You get the idea. It's an incredible mix of history and scenic beauty.

Of course, you don't have to exert yourself quite so much if hiking isn't your thing. You can enjoy the beauty of the park without leaving the beach.

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