SILVER SANDS: The Mastic Trail: Hiking in Grand Cayman

If you would like to get out and explore the island a bit more the Mastic Trail is a perfect day trip from Silver Sands. My best recommendation is to do it in the winter months where it is not so hot and humid. Set off in the morning, do the hike and then head on over to Over the Edge or Rum Point for some lunch and R&R.

"The Mastic Reserve on Grand Cayman protects part of the largest contiguous area of untouched, old growth dry forest remaining on the island. This area and other similar expanses of forest in Cayman are of international significance representing some of the last remaining examples of the Caribbean's dry, subtropical, semi deciduous dry forest, which have been the target of particularly intense deforestation throughout the West Indies.

The area is home to a wide variety of animals and plants unique to the Cayman Islands, and also to large populations of trees which have vanished from more accessible places through logging in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

One of the principal aims of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands is to try to safeguard the survival of the diversity of native wild plants and animals on these islands. This is most effectively achieved by protecting intact natural areas. The Trust's Land Reserves Programme was set up to acquire designated high priority environmental areas for protection under the National Trust for the Cayman Islands Law, 1987. Through a combination of donations and purchases, 834 acres of the total target area of 1,300 acres is currently under the care and management of the Trust, forming the Mastic Reserve."

All above information curtesy or the National Trust Website.

Mastic Trail Tours
Tuesday through Friday mornings

$20 for members

$24 for non-members

Additional days and private tours may also be available.

Call 749-1121 for reservations, meeting time and directions.

Although not as informative, you can also brave the trail by yourself, just be sure to bring lots of bug spray, sunscreen, a hat and wear long pants and long sleeves to protect you from the poisonous plant Maiden Plum.

There is so much wildlife that you can see, the Cayman Parrot along with other native birds, snakes and other reptiles and lizards, and so much plantlife! Another reason to do a guided tour, your guide can tell you all about every little critter you might come across.