Crooked River State Park

St. Marys, GA · Golden Isles

About

Salt marsh, pine flatwoods, and live oaks dripping with Spanish moss spread across 500 acres on the south bank of the tidal Crooked River. Four miles of trails carry you past gopher tortoise burrows, fiddler-crab flats, and a birding platform on the Sempervirens loop, where wood storks, ospreys, and painted buntings turn up through the seasons. It is also the closest base for the ferry to Cumberland Island, with cottages, riverside campsites, and guided kayak trips out into the marsh.

Highlights

Tidal salt marsh and maritime forest on the Crooked RiverFour miles of trails, including the Sempervirens birding platformGopher tortoises, fiddler crabs, wood storks, and painted buntingsCottages and riverside campsites near the Cumberland Island ferryGuided kayak trips into the marsh

Getting there

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Cumberland Island National Seashore

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Georgia State Parks

Georgia's state parks pack a remarkable range into one state. Up north there are deep gorges and the tallest cascading waterfall in the Southeast; in the southwest, a pink-and-orange canyon erosion carved out of old farmland; through the middle, mineral springs and CCC-built lodges; and down south, the wild blackwater edge of the Okefenokee. These are the ones worth building a weekend around, from the Blue Ridge to the coast.