If you're heading west from Santa Cruz, you're bound to pass though Lacovia, 8km away. Incongruously plonked in front of the Texaco gas station at the turnoff for Maggotty, there are two stone tombs (painted in Jamaican flag colours) where, according to local lore, two young victims of a 1738 duel are buried. One of the dead is identified: Thomas Jordan Spencer, a descendant of the Duke of Marlborough and distant ancestor of Lady Diana Spencer and Winston Churchill.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
6.05 MILES
You can smell the sweetness of molasses wafting from the Appleton Estate well before you reach it, almost a mile northeast of Maggotty. The largest and…
6.64 MILES
Deeply secluded in St Elizabeth parish, you’d be forgiven for thinking YS Falls emerged out of Eden. This series of seven cascades, hemmed in by limestone…
29.98 MILES
This splendid 1770s mansion is the most famous great house in Jamaica. John Palmer, a wealthy plantation owner, and his wife, Rose (after whom the house…
29.15 MILES
This marvelous estate, sitting high on a hill, is not as famous as Jamaica's most famous great house, but offers a far more intimate and interesting…
28.55 MILES
Few of Jamaica's waterfall experiences match Mayfield Falls for crowd-free natural beauty. Picture this: you climb into the cool river beneath giant…
24.67 MILES
A lane lined with palm trees leads you to the landscaped grounds of Hampden Great House estate, dotted with strutting peacocks. Tours assemble beneath a…
18 MILES
An unexpected bloom of pine trees, mahogany and mahoe grows atop the flinty heads of the Cockpits 3km northwest of Christiana, near Coleyville. This…
29.1 MILES
This well-curated, revamped museum, peppered with period objects, takes you through the history of western Jamaica, from the Cohaba ceremonies of the…
Nearby Jamaica attractions
5.07 MILES
The soothing sound of a million leaves rustling in the wind is one of the quiet pleasures of this photogenic tunnel of towering bamboo. The 4km-long…
5.65 MILES
Owned by Patrick Lee and his lovely Chinese-Jamaican family, this is a little triumph of green sensibility and community tourism. The park grounds consist…
6.05 MILES
You can smell the sweetness of molasses wafting from the Appleton Estate well before you reach it, almost a mile northeast of Maggotty. The largest and…
6.64 MILES
Deeply secluded in St Elizabeth parish, you’d be forgiven for thinking YS Falls emerged out of Eden. This series of seven cascades, hemmed in by limestone…
7.14 MILES
Immediately east of High St is an old iron bridge, once known as the Imperial bridge, as it was constructed with materials from different corners of the…
7.15 MILES
Virtually unnoticed by passers-by, this is a memorial to what came to be known as the Zong massacre – the throwing overboard of 133 African slaves by the…
7.16 MILES
At the east end of Black River’s High St is the Hendricks Building, dating from 1913, a fine example of period British-Caribbean architecture. Right next…
7.23 MILES
Although it’s as frenetic and chaotic as any other High St in Jamaica, Black River’s High St (note, High St and Main St are used interchangeably here) is…