Local Attractions
If you wish to venture out from the hostel and see some of the attractions nearby, we would suggest the following:
1. Drive about 45 minutes to the Okefenokee National Park, rent a canoe and paddle along the trails to see alligators, many types of birds, including bald eagles, and scenery unlike any other. There are 3 entrances to the National Wildlife Management Area.
2. The ferry to Cumberland Island National Park is also about 45 minutes away in Saint Mary’s. Here you can visit the ruins of the Carnegie Plantation and walk along 11 miles of beach without seeing any objects made by humans. Check their website for ferry schedules as they are closed for some days out of the year.
3. Jekyll Island State Park is about 15 minutes away, which was the home of the Millionaire’s Club of New York a hundred years ago. You can visit the restored homes of Rockefeller, J.P.Morgan, Crane, and many others. There is also a bike path around the perimeter of the island and the driftwood beach is unlike any where else.
4. Twenty minutes away is St. Simons Island, the second settlement in Georgia, after Savannah, founded by General Oglethorpe in 1733. You can tour the ruins of the old fort, used to protect the English settlers from the Spanish in Florida, see ruins of the houses of the settlers, walk to the top of the old lighthouse and visit a museum next to the pier.
5. Hofwyl Broadfield Plantation is about 15 minutes away. It is a nineteenth century rice plantation, which is now a state park. You can visit the old homeplace, tour the grounds and see a video on how they cultivated the rice.