Your Ultimate Guide To Barbados

Turner's Hall Wood

Turner's Hall Wood is a fifty acre natural preserve and park situated at Turner's Hall in the parish of St. Andrew.  It is the last remnant of the original tropical forest that once covered the island of Barbados before 1627 when the British first settled on the island.

This dense forest is home to some very beautiful and exotic species of trees and plant life here on the island of Barbados. Some of the indigenous trees found in Turner's Hall Wood are the…

• Sandbox

• Silk Cotton

• Fustic

• Cabbage Palm

• Trumpet Tree

• Locust and the

• Macaw Palm

It is interesting to note that some of the plants which currently grow in the woods cannot be found anywhere else on the island making this an important ecological preserve.

Turner's Hall Wood sits on lands previously owned by Captain John Turner who sought to preserve this small piece of Barbadian history and ecology. To date many scientists venture to Turner's Hall Woods in Barbados to conduct research on the plant life found there. Turner's Hall Wood has also been a favourite trail of hikers for many years. One such hiker was Queen Elizabeth II and a plaque commemorating her visit sits along the trail.

Turner's Hall Wood is home to many of the indigenous green monkeys which can be seen frolicking among the branches in the trees above making it a lovely place to commune with the unspoiled nature of the island.  This forest becomes quite dense the higher up you travel but the sights are worth the efforts; the exotic trees and the lush foliage provide an exciting glimpse into what Barbados must have been like in the early days before colonization.

Tours of Turner's Hall Woods are typically done on your own but you can arrange guided tours through the Barbados National Trust if you are not familiar with the area. Additionally, Eco Tours Barbados provides a guided tour of the area for a small fee. To arrange these tours click here and use the the comments box to request a tour.  This tour is conducted by an experienced tour guide who will avail you of his vast knowledge of the area, the plants and trees and Barbados in general.

The Turner's Hall Wood hiking trail is quite steep and goes on for about a mile, so you are advised to dress for the trek and make sure that you have plenty of drinking water as it can get very hot and humid in the forest. This last piece of natural Barbados is located just south of the Morgan Lewis Windmill on Turner's Hall Plantation in the north eastern of St. Andrew.

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