The Okefenokee Swamp is actually a 438,000 acre wetland that stretches from Georgia all the way through Florida. We’ve all heard it mentioned in songs and movies over the years. While planning a visit to see my husbands extended family in Alma, Georgia he recommended that we make a pit stop to this park in Waycross Georgia. He grew up visiting the park when he would spend the summers with his grandma. It had been years since he had been in the park and was quite foggy on what the experience might be like so once again, I was not fully prepared.

Everything you need to know about visiting the park is here: https://okeswamp.com/ Depending on where you are traveling from this could very well be a day trip. For us it was a bit far from home but was the perfect side trip excursion on our way into town. In true Team Pinner style we packed a pic-nic per usual and enjoyed an area between the entrance drive and the park parking lot that was set up with a covered pic-nic table area and public restrooms . Of course this was before actually entering the park and taking advantage of several of the tours. It was then that we realized just how close those gators werev to the parking lot. YIKES!! Seriously, our car is in the picture below with a gator just a few feet away. Double YIKES! I don’t know about you but that little yellow rope is not providing enough security between him and our car and the pic-nic area behind it.

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The park isn’t huge but offers quite a bit to do. We were there for about 4 hours which is longer than we expected. You can tool around on your own and see enclosed exhibits.

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You can get a little hands on action by attending one of their talk sessions.

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You can take a little walk on a boardwalk through the swamp to a large fire tower. If you choose to climb that you can see quite a distance through the swamp. We were there just as winter was turning to spring so the trees were still mostly bare and it was a beautifully scenic view from the top of the tower.

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Of course along that boardwalk there are ….. gators. Now that I know this, I am not sure you’ll ever see me on that boardwalk in the middle of that swamp ever again. ha Of course we were told time and time again that the gators don’t bother people and aren’t interested in people unless they are threatened. BUT whose to say the person on that boardwalk before didn’t do something stupid to disturb their peace and then I have to pay the price when I come along next. Nope, it’s their home so I am just going to let them have it from here forward. hahaha

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After the walk along the boardwalk and climb to the top of the firetower, to which I almost RAN back from, we took a flat bottomed boat ride through the swamp. Again, the views were beautiful, we saw lots of gators and/or gator nests and learned quite a bit about the swamp from the tour guide. This was by far my favorite part of the day. Somehow I felt a little safer in a boat than on foot. Apparently the Okefanokee is quite famous with Hollywood and has been used for the backdrop of many movies.

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Our last stop on the tour was via train, an old steam engine with open seating. Again the tour guide provided quite a bit of information and stopped along the way to point out gator sightings, interesting plants and other fun facts.

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The train ride exit leaves you in an area where they have an old historic town set up. There’s a farm house, outdoor classroom and a small petting zoo with live animals. We enjoyed the petting zoo but by this time I was so creeped out by being told to stay on the path at all times, realizing that I had to walk back through the swamp to get to the park exit, that all I could think of while looking at chickens was a gator must be lurking to eat the chickens and probably me too so, I was ready to GO!!! Of course you exit through a gift shop like all great parks and tours so we picked up a fun Christmas Ornament to serve as a memento.

The swamp is truly beautiful, an example of God’s amazing creation but if you are phobic of gators this is NOT the place for you. They are seriously every where you look, out in the wild. This is NOT a Zoo, they are not necessarily contained. I was brave for as long as I could be and then I couldn’t contain it any longer and needed to get in the car and quietly drive away, FAST. I am sure that you are much braver than I and will thoroughly enjoy this beautiful swamp full of education.