The Emmy-winning television travel show "Rock the Park" featured St. Croix locations in its episode that aired Saturday, and the ABC show will follow next Saturday with an episode on St. John, the V.I. Department of Tourism announced.
The program "taps into America’s love affair with our national parks," according to the show’s website. (See Related Links, below.) "Jack Steward and Colton Smith (the show’s hosts) are on a mission to explore every national park in this country and in the process go off the beaten path coming face to face with nature and some of the most awe-inspiring places on earth."
In the St. Croix episode, which aired last weekend, Steward and Smith explored St. Croix National Park locations, including Buck Island Reef National Monument, Salt River Canyon and lagoon and Fort Christiansvaern. According to the program notes, the two explored the island both above and below the surface. After lighting up the night in a bioluminescent bay they head into another kind of darkness. The two dived "The Wall" on St. Croix’s north side, plunging into the abyss.
In the upcoming episode airing Saturday, the hosts visit St. John. Through their lens, viewers will experience the Reef Bay Hike, windsurfing at Cinnamon Bay, night diving at Lind Point, and snorkeling at Trunk Bay, according to the Department of Tourism.
The St. Croix episode was actually a bonus, DOT said in its news release. The original plan was to shoot just one episode, on St. John.
DOT worked closely with "Tremendous! Entertainment" and the "Rock the Park" production team to secure and bring the program to St. Croix and St. John, and to facilitate filming over a 10-day period last November.
For those who missed the St. Croix episode, the show is available online at Hulu.com and other streaming services.
