Maracas - St. Joseph Alternative Loop.

I started this trail at the corner of the Agostini & Evans Streets in St. Augustine at 10.645643°N and -61.403841°W. Proceed heading north and west along Evans Street until Belle Smythe Street at 10.647894°N and -61.405772°W. Cross both the Priority Bus Route and the Eastern Main Road to get to Scot Street at 10.648374°N and -61.405719°W. One needs to be cautious when crossing both these major arteries because of the extreme volumes of motor vehicular traffic and the prevailing attitude that pedestrians have no right to be on the roads in Trinidad.
Continue heading north along Scot Street and then west along Smart Street at 10.650764°N and -61.405551°W. Cross Gordon Street at the intersection at 10.652098°N and -61.407546°W with Ragbir Street heading north. This route takes you on a gradual uphill climb along Ragbir Street winding uphill. The only issue along the route is the exposure to direct sunshine because of no foliage cover. Ragbir Street snakes along and then splits into Brunton Street at 10.658318°N and -61.408237°W. This street winds its way back downhill and intersects Riverside Road at 10.654633°N and -61.409921°W. Follow Riverside Road for a very short distance until Priest Hill at 10.653840°N and -61.410215°W.
Follow along Priest Hill until Picadilly Street at 10.654164°N and -61.413376°W. You can continue along Picadilly Street or do what I did and visit St. Joseph Park at 10.655428°N and -61.413801°W. St. Joseph was the first capital of Trinidad and Tobago. It was founded in 1592 and named San José de Oruña and served as the Spanish capital between 1592 and 1783. Sir Walter Rayleigh attacked in 1595 and the capital was held and used as a staging base for the exploration of the Orinoco River in search of the lost city of El Dorado.
I walked north along Picadilly Street as far as Buena Vista Street at 10.657299°N and -61.413562°W. Cross Abrecromby Street at 10.657367°N and -61.414233°W to continue heading west along Buena Vista Street past Armoury Square. This area is residential with lots of dogs that are usually fenced in but extremely ferocious and noisy. Today I did the loop along Caiman Road to get to the start of the trail. I varied the way that I did the trail on the ascent today but followed the usual route on the way back down. The variation in the ascent made it quite a lot more challenging this evening because of the loose gravel and the steep gradient.
I followed the trail in reverse to get back into the village but varied the route back to the starting point today. After exiting along Caiman Road I walked south along Wellington Street through St. Joseph Park. From here I walked south along Picadilly Street and then along Priest Hill again. I crossed Riverside Road right onto Mc. Lean Street and took that right to Ragbir Street again. From there I walked all along Gordon Street right to Warner Street at 10.648724°N and -61.397442°W. I walked east along Warner Street to St. John’s Road at 10.648536°N and -61.395955°W. I headed along St. John’s Road until Connell Street at 10.648943°N and -61.395904°W. Follow Connell Street right to Auzonville Road at 10.46950°N and -61.394405°W. Walk south along Auzonville Road right to the Eastern Main Road intersection at 10.645099°N and -61.395805°W. I walked west along the Eastern Main Road until the pedestrian track opposite St. John’s Road at 10.644995°N and -61.395790°W to get to the Priority Bus Route. You cross the Priority Bus Route extremely cautiously and walk along the track that leads to Pasea Street at 10.644212°N and -61.395244°W.
I followed Pasea Street south to Carmody Street at 10.642892°N and -61.395267°W and then walked west to St. Augustine Circular Road at 10.643138°N and -61.398385°W. From there you’d follow along St. Augustine Circular Road around the eastern end of the University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus. This would get you right back to the starting point.

Happy Trails.