Paget Marsh

Paget Marsh is a few hectares of wetland in the middle of a built-up parish that escaped clearance, and it holds what Bermuda looked like before settlement: stands of endemic Bermuda cedar and palmetto, mangrove, fern and sedge, growing on peat several metres deep. A raised boardwalk runs through it from the road, kept above the wet ground, and interpretation panels explain what is growing. It is jointly held by the National Trust and the Audubon Society.

What you actually see

• The endemic cedar - stands of the Bermuda cedar that once covered the island.
• The palmetto - the endemic palm growing alongside it.
• The boardwalk - the raised route through the wet ground.
• The peat - the deep organic ground the marsh has built up.

When to go

Year round; the boardwalk is open and free. Mornings are quietest. Mosquitoes are worst in the warmer months.

Honest expectations

The reserve is very small and the boardwalk takes twenty minutes. Mosquitoes are persistent. It sits in the middle of a residential parish, so the setting is not remote.

Nearby

The Botanical Gardens are east, and Hamilton is north.