Hollywell

Hollywell is the most accessible part of the Blue and John Crow Mountains park, an hour up a winding road from Kingston, and it sits at around eleven hundred metres where the air is genuinely cool and the vegetation has changed to soapwood, dogwood and Caribbean pine hung with bromeliads and old man's beard. Short marked trails loop through the forest, the Oatley Mountain trail being the main one, and there are picnic shelters and a handful of simple cabins to rent. On a clear morning the view runs down over Kingston, the harbour and the Palisadoes spit to the sea. It is where the city goes when it wants to be cold.

What you actually see

• The Oatley Mountain trail - a loop through mossy montane forest.
• The view over Kingston - the city, harbour and spit from the ridge.
• The cabins - simple huts to rent in the forest.
• Endemic birds - Jamaican tody, streamertail hummingbirds and others.

When to go

December to April is drier, and mornings are essential for the view since cloud usually covers the ridge by mid-morning. It is cold at night, often near ten degrees, which visitors from the coast do not expect. Weekends bring Kingston families.

Honest expectations

The road up is narrow, steep and potholed with blind bends, and it takes far longer than the distance suggests. Cloud and rain are frequent even in the dry season. The cabins are basic and cold with limited facilities, and need booking well ahead. Hurricane damage over the years has taken out trees and trail sections.

Nearby

Irish Town and the coffee estates are below; Section and the Blue Mountain road continue north.