The Virgin Islands National Park on St John Island owes much credit to Laurance Rockefeller who saw that overdevelopment could ruin the beautiful landscape of this area. He purchased most of the land himself and donated it to the United States federal government for use as a National Park. In August 1956, President Eisenhower officially cristined the park as part of the US National Park system. The Visitors Center is on Cruz Bay.
Activities in the park include the Reef Bay trail hike, which is all downhill when you go with a park ranger, lunch and a boat ride back to Cruz Bay which beats the 3 mile walk back uphill. A seashore walk, snorkel trips; a historic bus tour to the east end of St John Island; evening programs featuring informal talks, slide or film presentations about plants, animals, marine life and St John history are held at Cinnamon Bay Campground (the National Park Campground).