St. John maps
 

I'll be renting a car and therefore in need of a road map. A map showing hiking trails & riuns would be helpful as well. Are maps such as these easy to find on the island, or should I consider buying any of the following maps ahead of time: http://www.vitraders.com/Merchant2/m...gory_Code=Maps.
I just don't want to get lost, thats all!

You can get road maps from your car rental company or the activities director/concierge at your hotel. Or, you can probably purchase the map you "listed" at one of the shops in Cruz Bay - no need to get one ahead of time. You should also have no trouble finding a Trail map once you are on-island.

There really are only 2 main roads on STJ, it is very difficult to get lost.

That said, I would get a guidebook. I recommend Gerald Singer's St John off the Beaten Track or Pam Gaffin's Feet, Fins and Four Wheel drive. I have the latter, but I think Singer's looks like a nice book with pictures. We used a book our first few trips. There are lots of nooks and crannies to explore. It will show you all of the roads you need to know and tell you will tell you where ruins are. No need for an actual map. You can buy them on-line or at St John Spice right by the ferry dock. You can also pick up The Trail Bandit map when you are there. There are a couple of North Shore beaches that are hard to spot unless you know they are there.

What part of the island are you staying?

We will be staying in a villa in Coral Bay. I'm not actually afraid of getting lost, I just want to know how to get to the places I want to go. So I figure a road map with beaches, trails, and ruins on it would be perfect. I'll look into the guide books you mentioned though.

We have only used the book and I still reference it here and there after 8 trips. The book also gives you he degree of difficulty of the trails. Ruins are kind of spattered about everywhere on the island.

The Trail Bandit map is good for the hiking trails:

http://www.trailbandit.org/

I've also read good reviews on the NPS maps.

Also, the National Park Headquarters has great hiking trail maps. A good book is St John off the beaten track by Gerald Singer. Web site www.seestjohn.com

I agree with stopping by the National Park Headquarters (which is in Cruz Bay) to get a map. Since the National Park covers about 2/3 of the island, their map covers the entire island and should contain most of the features you are looking for. You can see a digital version of that map at http://home.nps.gov/applications/par...s/VIISmap1.pdf

The map we used the most was a cartoonish looking map that the concierge at he Westin gave us.

It is tough to get lost, but we still take our maps with us.

There are many maps in Pam Gaffin's 'Feet, Fins & 4WD' which is a great guide book that we used our first few visits.

We now have Singer's 'Off the Beaten Path' and I love this book. A little more information on individual activities.

Gaffin's book has a bit more of everything, while Singer's book has less hikes/snorkels, but he has more detailed info on the activity, is how I see it.

We have a large laminated map, either from Nat Geog or from the Park Service, but some of the 'paths' that they call roads are questionable. Depends on how adventurous you are and your car rental company!

Either Gerald Singer's or Pam Gaffin's books will have many great details as well as maps. If you'd like to explore certain scenes etc. you should definitely invest in one of their books. The Trail map is also helpful. As for driving, there are so few roads on St. John that even those cartoonish tourist maps are fine to get you around to most of the island. It's the more detailed books which will identify/describe how you get to various hiking destinations.

go to www.trailbandit.org

Bob has the best trail/road map of St. John you will find. I have been using his maps for the last 4 years and they rock!

He basically gives them away.