The John Crow Mountains are a range of mountains in Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

. They extend parallel with the north east coast of the island, bounded to the west by the banks of the Rio Grande

Rio Grande (Jamaica)

The Rio Grande is a popular river of Jamaica, found in the parish of Portland. It was named when the Spanish occupied Jamaica in the 15th and 16th centuries. One of the largest rivers in Jamaica, it was named "Big River" by the Spanish, and today is one of the many tourist attractions in Portland,...

, and joining with the eastern end of the Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains (Jamaica)

The Blue Mountains form the longest mountain range in Jamaica. They include the island's highest point, Blue Mountain Peak, at 2256 m . From the summit, accessible via a walking track, both the North and South coasts of the island can be seen...

 in the southeast. The highest point in the range is a little over 3750 feet (1,143 m).

The name John Crow first recorded in the 1820s and comes from the Jamaican name for the Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture

The Turkey Vulture is a bird found throughout most of the Americas. It is also known in some North American regions as the Turkey Buzzard , and in some areas of the Caribbean as the John Crow or Carrion Crow...

. It has been suggested that previous to this, the range was known as the "Carrion Crow Ridge", after an earlier name for the vulture. In 1890 the then governor Sir Henry Blake decreed that they be renamed the Blake Mountains but this did not stick.