On the Wild Side

Bermuda may seem like one big manicured garden, but its limited open spaces nevertheless give a fascinating glimpse of the island’s wildlife. Well-managed government national parks in many parishes, as well as nature reserves owned by the Bermuda National Trust and Bermuda Audubon Society throughout the island, offer spectacular ocean scenery, woodland, farm tracts, birdlife, insects, and geology. Contact either of these groups for seasonal information on birding tours and other eco-tour schedules. Don’t forget that much of Bermuda’s biodiversity is marine, not terrestrial; half-day and full-day snorkeling and scuba tours over Bermuda’s renowned reefs can be arranged through several respected outfitters. The beauty of exploring by land or sea is the compact size of the island, meaning that you could be floating over seafans or inspecting mangrove dragonflies in the morning, and still have plenty of time later in the day to cool out at the beach or enjoy a shopping jaunt to Hamilton.

Wildlife Hotspots

Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo

Spend an illuminating morning or afternoon at this historic Flatts facility, home to more than 200 local fish and invertebrate species, a 140,000-gallon reef tank, and a $1.7-million Natural History Museum that tells the story of Bermuda’s origins. The zoo’s parrots, monkeys, resident python, and flock of flamingos reflect links with island environments around the globe. BAMZ is a major educational center, schooling thousands of island students annually on conservation issues and Bermuda’s endangered species. Ask for feeding times and the daily tour schedule when you enter. Divers sometimes give special presentations from within the giant North Rock Tank, and there is a Friday morning storytime for kids.

Bermuda Biological Station for Research

Visitors are welcome at this world-renowned institution at Ferry Reach in the East End. Take a free morning tour of the station, located here since 1932, where top scientists from around the globe now come to study global warming, natural disasters, and possible medical breakthroughs — to cure cancer, to slow aging — that might be derived from the world’s oceans. Expeditions to Bermuda’s reefs and parks are also offered seasonally, along with lectures on cutting-edge marine research. The BBSR runs a well-subscribed year-round Elderhostel program for senior travelers to Bermuda, including a summer snorkeling camp geared especially for grandparents and grandchildren. If you get hooked, the station also offers a slate of internships for foreign students and volunteers.

Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute

From springtime whale-watching expeditions off the South Shore to traveling exhibits, “glow-worm” cruises, and lectures by some of the world’s top scientists, BUEI is a favorite destination for the ecologically inclined. The Pembroke facility is part museum (with exhibits on Bermuda shells, geology, wildlife, and shipwrecks) and part conference center and organizational hub for ocean-based activities around the island. You can sign up for a moonlit midsummer cruise to watch the phosphorescent glow worms enacting their fascinating mating dance, see humpback whales frolic just a short distance offshore, or spend an evening hearing about the latest deep-ocean submersible adventure by BUEI’s international board of scientific advisors.

Parks and Nature Reserves

Bermuda has 63 national parks, though some of these are tiny patches of preserved land, with a few located on offshore islets. The largest is South Shore Park, which at 103 acres, sprawls along the coastline of Warwick and Southampton, linking all the major beaches, dunes, trails, cliffs, and coves in these parishes. There are also some 13 national nature reserves, maintained by the government, as well as 33 properties owned by Bermuda National Trust (BNT) or Bermuda Audubon Society, though not all of these are open to the public.

Dress coolly to hike the nature reserves in summer; several, including Hog Bay Park, border the ocean, so bring a bathing suit and feel free to take a refreshing dip en route. Don’t forget to wear mosquito repellent. In the winter, all-terrain shoes, an umbrella, or hooded waterproof coat are recommended to keep dry in frequent rainsqualls. Bermuda’s traveling distances are short, and none of the sites are very large. So, you can cover several over the course of a weekend — two or three parks a day — depending on the pace you wish to keep and the diversions (swims, picnics) you may wish to take.

Here are 10 of the most important areas for island plants and wildlife:

Sandys Parish

Hog Bay Park: This 38-acre reserve is surprisingly little visited by Bermudians or visitors, yet it offers some of the island’s most rugged and beautiful undulating trails, which wind past farmers’ fields, through inland forest and along a cedar-coated coastline complete with beach and seagrass bays. Birdlife galore nests here, and various species of lizards, mice, toads, insects, and spiders can be seen. If you’re lucky, you can spot turtles and parrotfish frolicking off the breathtakingly panoramic shoreline. There is also a parking lot with portable toilets.

Southampton Parish

South Shore Park: A vast spread of coastal area connecting Warwick and Southampton’s most popular beaches, this public land was designated a national park in the 1990s. Included are areas for camping, trails across limestone cliffs and dunes, and shaded grassy areas for hilltop picnics. Land crabs’ burrows dot the dunes and longtails soar from cliff nests. Access is easy, via any beach entrance along South Shore Road.

Warwick Parish

Warwick Pond: Once a large marshy basin which ran through the heart of the island, this reserve owned by the National Trust is a key bird sanctuary. Renovated in 2003 with trails and informative signage, the nine-acre reserve off Middle Road encircles a large pond and is bordered by agricultural land.

Paget Parish

Paget Marsh: With a quaint boardwalk leading into a small portion of this central wetland, this National Trust/Audubon Society property off Middle Road is one of the few areas where primordial Bermuda lives on in stands of ancient cedars, palmetto trees, giant ferns, red mangroves, and other rare and endemic species. Interpretive signs describe the abundant birdlife, which includes ducks, wrens, cardinals, and catbirds, as well as numerous varieties of insects, reptiles, and toads.

The Botanical Gardens: Bermuda’s premier showcase of endemic and imported flora, this beautiful park offers innovatively planned areas (sensory gardens, cacti beds, kitchen gardens, and medicinal plantings), gargantuan rubber trees, rolling lawns, views of the sea, and a well-run Visitors Centre offering souvenirs, books, and snacks. The rare eastern bluebird (now protected) can be seen nesting in the quiet lawn areas here, along with Bermuda toads, lizards, insects and creepy-crawlies, from mammoth silk spiders to monarch butterflies. Easy to get to in this central location off South Shore and Berry Hill Roads, the Gardens are also home to the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, whose O’Keeffes and Homers were inspired by just such island beauty.

Devonshire Parish

The Arboretum: Somewhat under-rated by locals and visitors, this large rolling tract of meadow-dotted woodland is nonetheless a fantastic place to spot endangered bluebirds, flocks of cardinals, and other species. Hillside fiddlewood groves, avocado trees, whispering pines, newly-planted cedar stands and thick groves of cherry bushes, and carefully-planted quarry gardens make this public park a treat for outdoor enthusiasts. Access is from Middle or Montpelier Roads.

Smith’s Parish

Spittal Pond: A circular trail through this premier 69-acre reserve includes a spectacular cliff outlook, a close-up look at pond-life, woodland and spray-splashed coastal trails, as well as a dairy farm. Geological formations along the hurricane-battered shoreline are fascinating. The large pond and its parkland offer an important stop-off for migratory birds, and a nesting and breeding ground for resident ducks, coots, herons, waterfowl, finches, and scores of other resident birds.

Hamilton Parish

Walsingham and Blue Hole Park: This cavern-hollowed region contains the island’s oldest hard limestone, as well as several caves and sea-filled lagoons inside a quiet compound of trail-cut cherry forest. Take a dip in the forest swimming hole, which, linked by subterranean tunnels to Castle Harbour, feeds the central lagoon with fish and the occasional turtle.

St. George’s Parish

Ferry Reach Park: Cut off from traffic and residential neighborhoods, this isolated tract of land cradles picturesque Whale Bay, and continues east, hugging the wide-open North Shore coast. Forested hillsides, pine groves, mangroves, a walled military graveyard, and a marine pond called Lovers Lake make this one of the best island parks to get away from civilization. Bluebird populations thrive here, and turtles, angelfish, parrotfish, and schools of silver fry frolic in the bay.

The Railway Trail

The Railway Trail, the former rail bed that runs throughout the parishes, today belongs to Bermuda’s national parks system, and hiking the trail between some parks is possible. It includes a wide variety of habitats — from forest, mangrove, and golf-course to coastal cliffs — and its mostly flat, cool, noise-free surroundings offer walkers, runners, and mountain-bikers perhaps the best way to get a “behind the scenes” look at natural Bermuda, as well as farms and residential gardens along its path. The Sandys Parish stretch, from the old U.S. Naval Air Station gates to Mangrove Bay, is one of the most scenic, with longtails swooping out from Great Sound cliffs and a plethora of fiery aloes, fragrant oleanders, and cedars in garden estates along the way. Strike out on your own or take a guided tour of the Trail by pedal bike along sections of its end-to-end length.