Greencastle Hill - Stonehenge of the Caribbean

My trip to Antigua and Barbuda was rather last minute, so I felt uncertain about how to prepare for my solo trip to this Caribbean paradise. One great resource I have relied upon over the recent years has been the Amateur Traveler Podcast hosted by Chris Christensen. What I like the most about his podcast is that each episode is dedicated to a singular location, and he does not shy away from hosting an episode on “far-flung” places like Togo and Alaska’s Dalton Highway. So it doesn’t surprise me that he has an episode on Antigua and Barbuda, a popular tourist destination.

For the episode on Antigua, the guest Jeff Ohlf spent considerable chuck on the less-visited corners of the country, including the islands of Barbuda and Redonda. While I would like to visit those places, the expense and time commitment were too much for my short visit. However, one site in the middle of Antigua has no admission fee: Greencastle Hill National Park. Known as the “Stonehenge of the Caribbean,” the park boasts several collections of megaliths. Since we visited Malta two years ago, I have developed a great fascination for all things megalithic. The less we know about these ancient people, the more we can let our imagination run wild.

Greencastle is probably the most enigmatic and least visit landmark in the country.

But despite being the “Stonehenge of the Caribbean,” Greencastle Hill is still largely unknown to locals and foreign visitors. When I mentioned it to Nicole at Nicole’s Table, she seemed to have only vague knowledge of this place. When I told her I had visited the place, she sounded surprised and told me I was the first person she knew who had visited. Not much was written about this place in the travel blogging world. I feel like there hasn’t been any substantial research done on these megaliths among archaeologists.

When I attended an archaeological talk at Nelson Dockyard a few days prior, I approached and asked Dr. Christopher Waters, the manager of the national park’s Heritage Department, about Greencastle Hill National Park. He flat-out said that he knew nothing about these megaliths and suggested that I contact a local tour operator who provided a guided tour to Greencastle Hill. That was not the answer I expected from a chief archaeologist of the country. At the same, it also added to the mysticism of the place. This would be either the most amazing or most overhyped adventure I have yet.

Private vehicle is barred from entering the quarry, but it remains accessible for visitors on foot.

Because there isn’t much information on how to get to the monolith, I put Greencastle Hill on the back burner during my visit. On the second to last day, I was beach-hopping across the southern coast of Antigua. With two hours left before sunrise, I decided to try my luck with Greencastle Hill. According to Google Maps, it was only a twenty drive from Jolly Harbor. I have been warned by various online posts that the national park sits alongside an active quarry. Visitors ought to walk across the dirt trail of the quarry to reach the trailhead. Since there was no barrier set up. I just drove my little compact car in and through the quarry. It was a surreal experience, and I felt like I was trespassing.

After parking the car by the trailhead, a jeep drove toward me, making me very nervous. I was expecting the workers to tell me that I was trespassing on private property and that law enforcement was on the way. Two guys pulled up beside me and asked: “what’s your plan, boss?” I told them that I planned to hike Greencastle Hill to see the monoliths. He told me that I would need to park the car further out, just before their “gate,” and walk back in on foot. When I asked him whether I had enough time to finish the hike before it got dark, he shrugged and suggested I return the next morning. As I sat in the car out of the quarry gate, I. I thought long and hard about committing to this somewhat uncertain endeavor. Ultimately, I decided to wake up early the next day to allow myself extra time just in case I got lost.

I still can’t believe Google Maps led me down this ridiculous shortcut.

The next morning, I awoke at dawn to return to Greencastle Hill. For whatever reason, the AI of Google Maps led me to a shortcut just off the famous Fig Tree Drive. The dirt road was steep and appeared rather overgrown. Five minutes in, I got very concerned as the road continued to narrow. The dirt track became quite bumpy with a rock and increasingly became overgrown. Considering that I was driving a compact car with low clearance, the bottom of the carriage was constantly scraping against rocks. At this point, the prospect of me totaling this car became real. Knowing that our credit card car rental insurance would not cover any damage due to off-road driving, I think this might be a $25,000 mistake!

For the first time in my years of travel, I thought I was in real trouble. I am just glad that I was traveling along on this trip. If Brian was in this card, I think he would legitimately have a heart attack. The wild grass along the side of the path was brushing against the side of the car and made some terrifying noises. For my own sanity, I decided not to get out of the car and examine the damages. My first priority was to get myself out of this quagmire of my own making as soon as possible. A 40-minute journey ended up taking me to double the amount of time. The only positive about this treacherous drive was the splendid view of Boggy Peak, formerly Mount Obama, until 2016.

Unfortunately, half of Greencastle Hill has been eaten away by an active quarry.

I have never been so grateful as I pulled up at the metal gate of the quarry. The side of my car was completely covered with mud and vegetation, and it looked like I really put it through the wringer. At first glance, there appeared to be no major visible damage, but any dent and scratches would probably be obscured by all the mud anyway. I am glad that this happened at the end of the rental period. Who knew whether I did some long-term damage to the bottom of the car for real?

Luckily, it was a gorgeous morning, and I was ready to take on the unknown. After interacting with the quarry workers yesterday, I felt confident that I was not technically trespassing on private property. However, that did not mean that I did try to avoid running into anyone working for the quarry actively. Luckily, most activities this morning took place on the other side of the quarry, and I had the whole place to myself. The only being that greeted me was a couple of dairy cows chained up in the field. It was quite a bizarre sight, to say the least. Having a national historic site in the middle of an active quarry was already weird. Why would they keep some dairy cows next to giant excavators?

It was definitely weird to see a dairy cow in the middle of an active quarry inside a national park.

The trail up from the quarry was exceedingly steep and looked intimidating. But in reality, it was not as physically challenging as it looked. Based on the tire marks left on the trails, the trail seemed to be planned for future industrial activities rather than a proper national park access trail. It was shocking to see just how little legal protection there is for a supposedly important national heritage like Greencastle Hill. Despite being a national park, there was no single-way marker or signage in sight. I just followed the track and hoped for the best.

Once getting past the steepest section, the trail immediately leveled out to a gentle slope. The views over the island of Antigua were fabulous, and I began to enjoy this adventure for the first time. I spotted my first monolith a few meters from the trail a few minutes later. It was immediately clear that the tall grass made accessing it difficult. I had read that wild grass could grow as tall as six feet during the wet season, so I did not know how navigable it was to wrack my way through it. I kept going down the trail and circled back a little later.

Hearing the sound of dynamite nearby was not particularly reassuring.

After about five minutes, I was greeted with a fork: the left turn winded toward the other part of the open quarry, and the right turn continued with the ascend. Since I knew there was supposed to be a megalith at the very summit of the hill, I took the right turn to soldier on. At that point, I heard a loud bang not far from me. It reminded me that this is still an active quarry. Was I safe being alone in the middle of it all? Of all the ways to die, getting killed by a quarry dynamite blast should not even be an option.

As I continued along the track, the view only got better. Due to Antigua’s small size, I had a good panoramic view of the island. But it was not long before the trial ended, and I needed to decide how to proceed. Knowing that I would need to summit the hill, I decided to brave the overgrown wild grass and head uphill. I was able to make out a path for the first few meters. But to be honest, it might be just my vivid imagination. Before I knew it, there was no visible trace of any trail. All I knew was that I needed to reach the summit to better understand the lay of the land.

It was time to take a dive into a sea of long grass.

After ten minutes of a rather steep climb, I finally arrived at the hill's plateau. It was a great feeling, and I felt quite accomplished. However, submitting the plateau was just a first step. I still need to locate the megaliths. As I approached the southeastern edge of the hill, I spotted a stone slab on the ground in the field of tall grass. I was ecstatic, as I recognized it as the grave site of Oliver Ridsdale Baldwin, the Governor of the Leeward Islands from 1948 to 1950. Besides the ancient megaliths, it is one of the main landmarks on Greencastle Hill. While Baldwin is far from a well-known historical figure, I later learned his life story is fascinating.

The tomb of Oliver Ridsdale Baldwin, former Governor of the Leeward Islands.

A member of a wealthy family in London, Oliver was the son of Britain’s Conservative prime minister Stanley Baldwin. He lived a colorful life as a journalist and writer in Cairo and Alexandria. Although he was held hostage by the radical Bolsheviks in Armenia, Baldwin became a committed socialist in political opposition to his father and was elected as a Labour MP. The political difference caused a lot of division within the close-knit family. At one point, the father and son sat on the opposite bench of the House of Commons. Eventually, the pair reconciled their political differences and learned to accept them.

But his personal life made Baldwin’s life story particularly interesting. His homosexual lifestyle was the worst-kept secret in Britain. He and his long-time partner, John Boyle, lived together and hosted parties for other like-minded people. Remarkably, his parents appeared to be rather accepting of his homosexuality and Boyle, which was highly progressive for its time. Decades after his father’s tenure ended, Baldwin was appointed the Governor and Vice Admiral of Leeward Islands. His jurisdiction includes modern-day Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and the Virgin Islands.

However, his tenure as governor was incredibly short, and he was recalled less than two years later. The British aristocrats in the Caribbean region were quite disturbed by his homosexual lifestyle. To make the situation worse, his socialist politics and view of racial integration made him incredibly unpopular among the ruling class of the colonies. Contemporary accounts even suggested that Baldwin and Boyle hosted nude parties at the Government House in Saint John’s. Even though he was effectively driven out of Antigua, Baldwin’s love for these islands endured. Following his death in 1958, his ashes were buried on the summit of Greencastle Hill per his will. It was unclear whether he knew of the megaliths on this hill, but it was a beautiful spot to spend eternity.

Beautiful panoramic view toward the south of the island.

A few meters from Baldwin’s grave were a couple of large boulders at the cliff's edge. They were “arranged” in a configuration like an open palm reaching the sky. It was almost like some pre-historic altar dedicated to the sun. Is this one of the many monoliths people talked about? I was not so sure, to be honest. Whether or not they are ancient megaliths, they are evocative and thought-provoking. However, I was disappointed that I could not spot any other megaliths except curious-looking stone slabs a dozen meters away.

With so little research done on Greencastle Hill, there aren’t authoritative surveys produced that are available online. The only map that I could find was one drafted by Winston Cumberbatch. According to this map, neither formation was an ancient megalith near the grave. This brought forward the question of discerning an ancient megalith from a natural geological formation. This simple question looms large above Greencastle Hill. Among scholars and archaeologists, Greencastle Hill’s megalithic history is often disputed. While a few scholars identify many rock formations as man-made, others suggest they are purely natural geological formations. Unlike Wale’s Bryn Celli Ddu or Malta’s Ġgantija, the “megaliths” here are subtle. I could concur that Greencastle Hill megaliths lack the “touch of humans’ hand” compared to other well-known megaliths.

A map of megaliths drawn by Winston Cumberbatch.

For the advocates of Greencastle Hill, the evidence for ancient megalith lies in the arrangement of these stones in circular or semicircular shapes. Some scholars conclude that, like Stonehenge, the orientation of many megaliths here aligns with the celestial calendar. The megaliths are said to be arranged as a device for time-keeping. At the same time, this may be a wonderful coincidence. The discovery of artifacts from the Arawak civilization here is often cited for the importance of this site to the prehistoric civilization in Antigua. While I am not qualified to give my own assessment, I think it is obvious that more academic research is needed to put this question to bed.

According to Cumberbatch’s map, most megaliths are located on the lower hills, which I passed earlier. So I fumbled down the plateau and returned to the main trail. By now, I gained enough confidence to wade through the tall grass and learned how to find my own footing. I even stepped on an ant nest and had my left foot swarmed. Luckily, they were quite harmless in the end. Whether these megaliths are by the ancient civilization or not, the challenge of summiting Greencastle Hill is a worthwhile adventure.

The Chair Rock was clearly visible from the main trail.

It turned out that the group of megaliths I passed earlier is one of the best-known ones on Greencastle Hill. Known as Chair Rock, one particular megalith resembles a throne. Even though the back of Chair Rock was visible, the chair's profile was only visible up close. From the trail, I scrambled some rocks up the slope. It was quite a lot of fun. I only wish Brian was there to take a photo of me sitting on the throne. But on the other hand, he would probably dissuade me from making this hike to start with.

The profile of this particular set of megaliths looks similar to the basalt columns you find in Iceland or Giant’s Causeway. Like much of the Caribbean islands, Antigua (and Greencastle Hill) was formed as a volcanic base about 40 million years ago. Unlike Stonehenge, it was clear that these megaliths were not transported from far distance away. The tubular profile prompted some scholars to speculate that they may be associated with the ancient practice of phallic worship. But like everything else on the hill, there is no academic consensus about such a claim. However, you can’t help thinking that it was in a realm of possibility.

The so-called Chair Rock is often believed to be a throne used during ceremonial rituals.

I could see the next set of megaliths from the Chair Rock at an adjacent hill. However, I did not see any visible path leading there. Although I could brave the tall grass to get there, I estimate it might take me half an hour to navigate the hill. The national park organized an annual control burn to clear the grass at the end of the wet season. That is the easiest and most efficient way to provide easy access to researchers or visitors. All the best pictures of these monoliths I found online were taken after a controlled burn. However, I doubt the ghost of Governor Baldwin would be happy about the burn.

As I was heading downhill, I experienced a sense of euphoria that is difficult to describe. Even though I have only visited about half of the megaliths on the map, I can’t help feeling accomplished. In this digital age, we are used to being inundated with too much information. My visit to Greencastle Hill was more about exploring the unknown and embracing the uncertainty. While it may be smart to hire a guide, as the park ranger recommended, I am so glad to explore this place alone. For once, I felt like a real explorer hunting down ancient relics like it is in the movie.

Climbing Greencastle Hill was an incredibly cathartic experience.

So the big question at the end of the day was whether I would recommend visiting Greencastle Hill. For me, this is probably the single most unique attraction in Antigua. Even if these megaliths may be just natural formations, they still possess an air of mysticism that is difficult to describe. For those interested in the hidden side of Antigua, this is a wonderful side of Antigua, away from all the tourists. Even though there won’t be any signage to point your way, locating them is not difficult with some prior planning and perseverance. If you have questions about the logistics of visiting, please don’t hesitate to comment below. I am more than glad to share my experience in greater detail. Happy travel to Antigua, everyone!

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Greencastle Hill - Stonehenge of the Caribbean

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