As is our usual plan these days we only move short distances, so our drive on Monday morning was from St. Augustine to our campground outside of Folkston, GA, a 1.5 hour drive of 84 miles. We didn't leave till about 1:00 that afternoon so I could get the laundry done and PK could change the oil on the car and the RV. Just north of Jacksonville we passed our welcome sign for Georgia, a beautiful afternoon after a heavy downpour earlier that morning. I had found camping for us at Trader Hills County Park only a few miles aways from the main entrance to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The nightly rate was $20 and the park was practically empty. There were several residential campers at one end, plus a few trailers set up for weekend stays but as far as we could tell we were the only ones staying the night. The office was closed with a note to call the ranger which I did, and he came out about 8pm that night to collect our fee; a nice, quiet little park along the St. Mary's River.
The RV was set up by 4:00 with plenty of daylight hours to see the Preserve. Though the Visitor Center was closed, we picked up a map of the park and made reservations for a swamp boat ride the next morning at the cafe, then set off to drive the 8 mile Swamp Island Drive. I just wish we had packed the bikes with us it would have been a fabulous bike ride! There were numbered markers along the drive with stops for views and trails. We walked the 1.5 mile Boardwalk to climb the Owl's Roost lookout tower at the end
A beautiful new boardwalk due to a fire that raged in the swamp just a few years back.
Views of the swamp, one of the world's largest intact freshwater ecosystems.
We were back at the park by 9:00 the next morning to take a guided swamp boat ride. Lucky for us, we were the only ones scheduled so once they repaired the shade awning on our boat we launched from the visitor center and enjoyed a beautiful ride.
The entrance to the larger preserve is along this canal dug by hand in an earlier attempt to drain the swamp in the late 1800's. Indians inhabiting the area named it "Okefenokee" which means trembling land. It was logged extensively in the early 1900s before being designated a refuge by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937.
Our guide stopped along the way to show us the vegetation and wildlife.
Thank goodness there are no airboats allowed in the reserve, only small swamp boats and lots of canoes. They even have canoe trails with over night elevated tent sites. Not so sure I could do that knowing the numbers of alligators in the surrounding waters. We did see one really big 8-footer sunning himself in the distance.
Drainage from the swamp forms the headwaters of the St. Mary's and the Suwannee Rivers.
The water in the swamp was high when we were there, which meant that most of the alligators were hidden away. Evidently when the water level drops the gators hang along the open banks and the birds are wading nearby. It was so peaceful and wonderful to see the swamp in all its beauty. It's thought to be 6,000-8,000 year old, so amazing! For whatever reason I have always loved the name of this swamp and I was thrilled to really be there!
After our picnic lunch we headed back out to Chesser Island Drive for a tour of Chesser Island Homestead, named after the pioneering family who first settled the area.
Members of the family have resided in the current homestead since it was built in 1927 by Tom and Iva Chesser who raised severn children here without electricity or modern convinces. They were subsistence farmers basically eating what they could shoot, trap, catch or grow in the sandy soil.
Keeping the yard swept was a good way to prevent wildfires from reaching the house; thunderstorms and lightning often were the cause of the fires. It also was an easy way to spot snakes in the yard.
Many of the original furniture pieces are in the house today and all the out buildings remain.
After a day and a half visiting the Okefenokee, we moved only 30 miles north that afternoon to the Laura S. Walker State Park, our first Georgia State Park. It was our introduction to Georgia state's wonderful 20% senior discount for camping and where we bought our Friends of Georgia Park Pass. For $60 I received two car passes giving us free entry to all parks for the next year, plus our choice of two nights free camping or two free golfing passes. We chose the camping option which paid for the cost of our pass after our first two free nights.
This campground sits right along a lake with several beautiful view campsites. Since the park was pretty empty we were able to get a lake front site, #10.
Sadly there wasn't much of a lake, it had been drained for maintenance and construction and was slowly refilling, probably not it's usual self until next fall.
But still a beautiful couple of days, a nature trail to hike or bike and an 18-hole golf course right inside the park. I had thought there was another entrance into the Okefenokee Samp nearby but it turned out to be a privately owned; it sounded more like an amusement park than the natural setting I was interested in.
So after our two night stay it was time to move north once more. This time we were heading to General Coffee State Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment