Okefenokee Swamp Park

Okefenokee Swamp Park, a privately-operated attraction situated at the northern end of the extensive Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge, offers a convenient way to access the swamp landscape and its wildlife, including alligators, otters, snakes, sandhill cranes and dozens of other species of birds, reptiles and other animals.

You can take a ride on the swamp park train that circles the park, with a stop to see the rustic homestead buildings on Pioneer Island. A precarious boardwalk across the swamp leads to a 90-foot high observation tower, offering expansive views over the Okefenokee landscape. Other things to do include wildlife shows, and a nature center with exhibits on local wildlife, a serpentarium, and a family of black bears.

An optional 45-minute boat tour into the swamp along the original waterways used by the Seminole people offers a closer look at the area’s wildlife and plants.

Open daily, 9am-5:30pm. Standard admission: adults $17, seniors (62+)/military $17, children (3-11) $16. Admission including boat tour: adults $27, children (3-11) $22.

5700 Okefenokee Swamp Park Road, Waycross, GA 31503

Call 912-283-0583 or visit the official website for additional information.

Okefenokee Heritage Center

This local art and history museum, set amidst the pine woods on the outskirts of Waycross, explores the history and culture of the Okefenokee region, with exhibits on the colonization of southeastern Georgia, the Seminole people, African-American history, local musical culture, and other aspects of Okefenokee history.

Other things to see at the Okefenokee Heritage Center include an 1830s farmhouse, with furniture and farming tools from that period, and a 1912 Baldwin steam locomotive, together with several antique train cars. Rotating art exhibits display works by regional artists.

Open Tuesday-Friday, 9am-2pm and Saturday, 9am-12pm. Admission is $5 for adults, and $3 for seniors, children (5-12) and veterans.

1460 North Augusta Avenue, Waycross, GA

Call 912-285-4260 or visit the official website for additional information.

Southern Forest World

This museum, located just a few yards along the road from the Okefenokee Heritage Center, is dedicated to the history of forestry in southeast Georgia. Exhibits explore the state’s early history of logging, its turpentine and naval stores industries, wood milling, and other aspects of the forestry industry up until the modern day through displays of antique tools and engines, dioramas and a variety of other artifacts (including a space suit made partly of pine products).

Southern Forest World is best known as the home of the internationally-famous Stuckie, a dog who got trapped inside a hollow tree while chasing an animal and was found, mummified, by loggers in 1980. The site also offers a nature trail, a butterfly garden, and a collection of conventionally-taxidermied woodland animals.

Open Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-2pm; call before visiting. Admission $5.

1440 North Augusta Avenue, Waycross, Georgia

Call 912-285-4056 or visit the official website for additional information.

Laura S Walker State Park

Laura Walker State Park, located a few miles southeast of Waycross and not far from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, offers several hundred acres of woodlands set around a scenic lake. It is one of few state parks to be named for a woman.

Four miles of trails, suitable for hiking and biking, circle the lake and wind through the woods. In and around the lake you can see a variety of lowcountry wildlife including alligators, gopher tortoises, herons and other birds; a boat ramp provides lake access to private boats and kayaks.

The park offers kayak, paddleboard and bike rentals if you don’t have your own. Tent, trailer and RV camping is available on wooded sites, some directly on the lake. Several cabins can also be rented.

Open daily, 7am-10pm. A $5 parking fee applies.

5653 Laura Walker Road, Waycross, GA

Call 912-287-4900 or visit the official website for additional information.

The Lakes at Laura S Walker

Next door to Laura S Walker State Park is The Lakes, a public 18-hole championship golf course designed by Steve Burns. The scenic, undulating course is set around three large lakes, with holes catering to a range of skill levels. Golf instruction and cart rentals are available.

Open daily, hours vary seasonally. From $15 per person.

5500 Laura Walker Road, Waycross, GA 31503

Call 912-285-6154 or visit the official website for additional information.

Waycross, GA Festivals & Events

Festivals in Waycross include the annual SwampFest street festival and Swamptown Getdown Music & Arts Festival, usually in spring, and the Gram Parsons Guitar Pull and Tribute Festival and Okefenokee Agricultural Festival, usually in fall.

Additional spring and fall music festivals are also typically held at nearby Twin Oaks Park, in Hoboken, GA.

More Things To Do In Coastal Georgia

– St Simons Island events
– Jekyll Island events
– Things to do in Valdosta, GA
– Boat tours and charters from St Simons Island
– Sapelo Island tours
– Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge

See also:
– Savannah events
– Georgia beaches
– Georgia food festivals