Cumberland Island National Seashore

St. Marys, GA · Golden Isles

About

Cumberland Island is Georgia's largest barrier island, reachable only by ferry from St. Marys, where wild horses graze among the moss-draped oaks and tabby ruins of the Carnegie family's Dungeness estate. Beyond the historic district stretch more than 17 miles of undeveloped white-sand beach with almost no one on them. Spring and fall bring the mildest weather and the fewest bugs for hiking or biking the maritime forest.

Highlights

Free-roaming wild horses, often seen around the Dungeness historic areaRuins of the Carnegies' 35,000-square-foot Dungeness mansion, plus the Plum Orchard estateOver 17 miles of secluded, undeveloped white-sand beachFerry-only access from the St. Marys mainland visitor centerMaritime forest of live oaks draped in Spanish moss, ideal for hiking and biking

Getting there

Mainland Visitor Center, 113 St. Marys Street, St. Marys, GA 31558

Open in Maps Official website ↗

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Crooked River State Park

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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.

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