Spanning the Georgia-Florida border is the remote Okefenokee swamp. It isn’t really a swamp, but rather a bog, with extensive peat deposits. FDR designated it a National Wildlife Refuge.
We stopped at the visitor center near Folkston, GA. This provides access to Swamp Island Drive, a 9 mile loop into the swamp. There are several trails and points of interest. We stopped at Chesser Island and the boardwalk.
The Chesser family built their homestead on an island in the late 1800’s. Several buildings remain, including their house, a smokehouse, a building for making sugar cane syrup, and pens for pigs and chickens. Their well was a hollow cypress log dug into the ground. The cypress didn’t rot and kept sand from collapsing the sides of the well.
Further along the drive, a boardwalk extends into the swamp, ending in an observation tower. We saw lots of wading birds perched in trees sunning themselves. On our return, we spotted several pileated woodpeckers. They were easy to find because of a ruckus of calls and tree destruction.