Jamaica Road Trips

The A1 is the main road from Kingston to Negril, via Montego Bay. It leaves Kingston, then jogs north at Spanish Town, where it travels over the John Crow Mountains, to Ocho Rios. It heads west along the north coast to Montego and and Negril along the coast. It ends in Negril, where it meets the A2.

The A2 also connects Negril to Kingston through the souther portion of the island. It starts just outside of Kingston, in Spanish Town, at a branch from the A1, to Negril, via May Pen, Mandevile, Black River and Savanna La Mar. Unlike the A1, the majority of the route is inland, with only the portion from Black River to Negril skirting the coastline.

The A3 goes north from Stony Hill in St. Andrew, and then west on the other side of the mountains, through Oracabessa an eventually to the A1 at Moneague, where it ends. Its a very scenic drive, taking you through Castleton, one of Jamaica's Botanical Gardens.

The A4 runs east from Kingston, hugging the coastline through the parishes of St Thomas and Portland. It ends where it meets A3, just east of Annotto Bay. It is is the least maintained of the three primary roads. It takes over 4 hours to traverse this 46 mile stretch of road.

T1 stretches between Kingston and May Pen (with a connection through to Spanish Town). Toll plazas are located at Spanish Town, Vineyards and May Pen.

The T2 leg, also called the Portmore Causeway begins on Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston and ends on at Dyke Road in Portmore. Dyke Road continues north and links the causeway with T1 along the periphery of the heavily populated Portmore area.

This leg of the Highway 2000 project, connects Kingston to Ocho Rios, now opening the possibilities of flying into either Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport or capital Kingston’s Norman Manley International airport, with similar travel times to Ocho Rios.

Papine, St Andrew to Buff Bay, Portand. The B1 road starts from Papine and heads north across the Blue Mountain range, in the direction of Gordon Town before branching towards Newcastle. From there it meanders up past Hardware Gap and Hollywell and across one of the most scenic mountain ranges that is accessiible via car. [ Explore Day Trip ]

The A2 runs from Bog Walk in St Catherine to Whitehall in St Mary. It crosses in St Mary at the village of Troja, then carries on north east to Richmond and Highgate before ending at the A3.

The B3 travels north from May Pen, the capital of the Parish of Clarendon, and across the interior mountains to Runaway Bay.

The B4 begins at the B3 in Trout Hall, Clarendon, and heads west along the Rio Minho River to the B5 in Manchester. The B4 actually forks a few miles west of Spalding, with one leg leading due west to the A5 in Segburn, and the other leg taking a south westerly direction where it also meets the A5 at Walderston. From its junction at Walderston, the B4 follows the same course as the B5 to where the B5 ends at the junction with the B6, due south from Walderston. From here, the B4 takes a south-easterly route running parallel to the A2 until it meets, and ends at the A2, just west of Porus.

The B5 travels due north from Manchester, just north of Williamsfield, to Rio Bueno, a small town on the north coast betweens Duncans and Discovery Bay. It skirts the eastern edge of the cockpit country and it wends it way through the inner mountain ranges.

The B6 is a beauthful drive through three parishes, Manchester, St Elizabeth then into St James. It traverses through the Appleton Rum estates, then on to YS Falls before turning North North West into St James parish where it ends in the B8, about 10 miles from Montego Bay.

The B7 begins at the A2 in the town of Baptist in St Elizabeth and travels north west, then north into the mountains and through the southeast corner of the parish of Hanover where it eventually meets and ends at the B8 in the parish of St James.

The B8 is a fairly well travelled route between Montego Bay and Savanna la Mar. It begins at the A2 at the Ferris Gas station then heads north up into and across the mountain of Hanover and St James to the A1 at Long Hill, where it ends. It is used by large trucks and passenger buses.

The B9 starts at the A2 in Savanna la Mar heading north through Frome and across the mountains into Hanover, where it ends at the A1 in Lucea.

The B10 runs from Duncans on the north coast up and over the cockpit country, then on down to the B6 where it ends, close to Balaclava in Manchester. The maps shows the road becoming much narrower as it goes through the cockpit country, so it is unclear whether it is accessible via cars.

The B11 runs east to west, from the A1 just west of the Glistening Water marina and Restaurant, to Golden Grove close to the A1 and T3 highway. The road also links Golden Grove to St Anns Bay. It starts and at the coastal towns but traverses the interior of the island well away from the ocean through towns such as Browns Town.

The B12 runs from the A2 in Free Town, St Catherine, to the A2 in Toll Gate, Clarendon, where it ends. From Free Town, it travels south towards the coast, turning west towards Lionel Town, then north westerly via Mile River, meandering through 3 parishes; St Catherine, Clarendon with brief visits to Manchester along the way.

The B13 runs from Linstead to Oracabessa where it ends at the A3. It travels via Guys Hill (wypoint C), Gayle (D) then on to Dessikee (waypoint E), then based on a 1967 map, it would have would travelled due north to waypoint G then on to Oracabessa. This section (E to G) however, must have fallen in disrepair sufficently enough that the original road no longer appears on modern surveys. On our map, we backtrack after waypoint E, using routes based on what is available today to the original destination marked by the last drop pin (H). The original path would have been from waypoints, E to G, then on to F to Oracabessa (waypoint H). Remnants of a road still exist between G and F, but there is nothing between E and G. The route as depicted here is 49 miles and takes about 3 hours.

The B15 is a scenenic drive inland from Montego Bay to Falmouth. It travels due east from Montego Bay to Wakefield where it turns northeast towards Falmouth.