There's some great hiking in the area around Bathsheba on the way to Ragged Point and then beyond to Culpepper's Island. One route would be to hike three miles along the old railway track from Martin's Bay to Bathsheba, a route that affords some great views. There's also a good hike just north of Sam Lord's Castle, originally built in the 19th century as a country house but now operating as a hotel. The structure stands on a rocky bluff, overlooking a coral beach graced with coconut palms and sea grapes. It's called a "castle" because of its battlement-style notched roof; it combines Georgian symmetry and balance with Gothic details, as do the crenellated roof and mouldings above the windows. The stucco interior was crafted by English and Italian workmen brought specially over to do the job.

Follow this along—peering periodically over the bluff at the knockout views of pounding surf—until the lighthouse comes into view, built of coralstone extracted from a nearby quarry in 1875. It sits atop Ragged Point, aptly named after its jagged limestone cliffs, relentlessly besieged by the pounding surf. This bleak area only gains some color when the bright agave or Spanish needles are in bloom. Passing by some cows, turn where an abandoned bus stands next to a house.

Move on to Northwestern Region

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