We had a chance to visit Great Dunes Park a couple of weekends ago. This is definitely the beach to…read morecheck out if you want to avoid the crowds at Tybee Beach or even Hilton Head, although it will require about an hour or so drive south from Savannah and similarly, north from Jacksonville. They also charge a toll to get into the beach community with state residents paying I believe six dollars or so and out of state residents paying closer to 10. However, it's definitely worth it as there is plenty of parking along the entire island beach strip, including a really great fishing pier at the end of the island that also has a bait and tackle shop located within the park. We found the beach to be clean, the facilities to be well kept, and more importantly, not overly crowded. The beach here is well traveled, however so this is not soft, supple sand, but much more hard packed, which allows for running, bike riding and recreational activities in general. There were several families fishing in the same vicinity of other families playing in the water which could present a bit of concern with regard to potential hooks and fishing tackle in the surf, but it didn't seem to bother anybody. This is definitely going to be our go to beach for the foreseeable near future.

Amazing beach on Jekyll. The bathrooms are always clean, and the pavilion area is perfect for…read morefamily activities. There's also a place to rinse off and a water fountain. We love to get here early to find a good spot, but be mindful that the beach can get busy during peak season. Either way, this beach never feels super packed, and is one of my favorites in the region. Love that it's dog friendly, just be mindful of the on and off leash times that coincide with peak season.

Just a cool little beach. It's driftwood but it could be driftwood tree. Great photo spotread more

Driftwood Beach is pure coastal magic…read more I stopped here during a short business trip to Jekyll Island, and I honestly fell in love with this place. The beach gets its name from the incredible collection of weathered trees and driftwood scattered along the shoreline, creating the most dreamy, almost storybook-like scenery. Jekyll Island has such a fascinating history, and this area is a beautiful reminder of how nature and time continue to shape the island. What was once a thriving forest has gradually transformed into this unique coastal landscape due to erosion and changing shorelines. Walking along the beach surrounded by these beautiful, sculptural trees felt so peaceful and surreal. Add in the friendly locals, Southern charm, and laid-back island atmosphere, and I completely understood why Jekyll Island has such a special charm. I came for business, but Jekyll Island quickly became one of those unexpected places I'll remember long after the trip is over. Driftwood Beach was definitely one of my favorite stops, and I'm already looking forward to coming back.

*********** I started this page for the JEKYLL ISLAND TRAIL SYSTEM, which is a thing, but Yelp then…read morechanged it to the Jekyll Island Campground, which is an entirely different thing that already has a different Yelp page elsewhere.******** I also put this under categories for hiking and biking but Yelp changed it to camping. Hiking and biking trails are NOT the same thing as a campground!!!! I hope Yelp can get its act together to acknowledge the trails on this island, which are a huge draw for visitors, and which have their own web presence as acknowledged by the Golden Isles tourism org, as well as the state parks system! JEKYLL ISLAND TRAIL SYSTEM So this review goes with the dozens of photos I posted of the trails all over the island, better known as the Jekyll Island Trail System. JI has over 25 miles of paved trails throughout the island. They also have dirt/sand trails, and gravel trails. Most trails are handicapped accessible, though I'd stick to the paved ones if exploring on wheels of any kind. It is very popular to circumnavigate the perimeter of the island, which can be done, nonstop, in under an hour on bike. But you can easily spend a day traveling this island by bike if you pause to take in all the sights. I would not call any of the trails difficult, neither for biking, nor for walking. The island is mostly flat, so virtually no inclines at all, and the paths are so well-maintained that you will never encounter overgrowth or mud or anything on the paved or boardwalk trails. From Corsair Beach Park, northward, one can ride their bike on the beach, including all over Driftwood Beach, which is arguably the main attraction of not only Jekyll Island, but all of the Golden Isles put together! Other worthy stops include the Historic District, St. Andrews Picnic Area, and Clam Creek Picnic Area. But those are just highlights. Bikes can't go on the southern beaches because it is a haven for sea turtle nests. However, you can chain your bike in the parking lot and walk these beaches, which are worth every second of detour. Beach Village is another fun stop, and the perimeter bike trail goes right through it. Beach Village houses Love Shack inside Jekyll Market, which is my top recommendation for a food stop! On the southern end of the island, there are a lot of inland trails, running through swamp, and under thick tree canopies, allowing you to really explore the innards of the island, and a lot of wildlife. At the northern end, between Clam Creek and Driftwood Beach, there is a trail through the swamp that has beautiful views in every direction, especially at sunset. More toward the center of the island, Tupelo Trail runs past Horton Pond, and Shell Rd. Trail navigates some of the best wildlife spotting areas on the island.

We loved our time here! Parking was ample. The fenced in play area was large and very entertaining…read morefor all of my kiddos. It was busy with kids and parents mostly stayed to the sideline letting kids make friends and have a blast. There are loads of shaded picnic tables right next to the park where you can sit or bring lunch to eat at! The squirrels are very friendly and the birds come up to you almost like they expect a due for sitting under their tree, haha! Very clean and safe. There are public restrooms at the brick building across the sidewalk on the side of the picnic tables towards the parking. For public restrooms they're not bad! A quick straight stroll (2 blocks or so) to get ice cream and go out to eat or shop around! Great location.

Adjacent to the Saint Simons Island lighthouse at the southern end of the island, this large park…read morehas a fun zone pool, a lovely walking path at waterside, a large fishing pier and a playground, with a dozen or so benches scattered about, most of which are in shade and all have a great view. When it's not being used freely by all sorts of visitors and tourists, the park gets set up for different events throughout the year, including for Memorial Day, Fourth of July and music festivals. Enjoy the view of the Saint Simons Sound. The big widget is the recovery ship that is cutting up the Golden Ray, a car transporter that capsized a few years back. Great spot. Parking can be a challenge during the busier times but there are plenty of bike racks. [Review 15742 overall - 424 in Georgia - 1246 of 2021.]

The Wanderer Memory Trail is worth a visit, but the mosquitoes are horrible at any time of year…read more We spent some time tossing a frisbee around in the water, which was dead calm except for the occasional wake from passing boats. It's a decent place to fish or to walk your dog. But it's just not worth getting eaten alive on the way from the parkinhg lot to the beach.

This was an okay area. It was not as well maintained as other beach areas or parks. But it's…read morelocation is unique in its view. We stopped by during the day so we didn't get to see the western sunset which others have mentioned. It is not a well visited spot on the island. But it should be, if only to see the Wanderer Memory Trail. (see review of the trail separately). When we came, there were only a few other cars. It had been stormy the night before and the lot and walkways were covered with downed tree branches and leaves. Bottom line: Come for the history and the trail.

Corsair Beach Park is farrrrr better than the beach on SSI, but among Jekyll Island beach parks,…read moreit's just not the best of the best. Corsair is basically the first beach you can get to when entering the island. Just off the bridge, you're fed into the roundabout. To your right is The Westin, to your left is Beach Village, and the Jekyll Island Convention Center. Straight ahead is Corsair Beach Park! But parking is to the left, behind Beach Village. This is a very obvious park, one where most day trippers and Westin guests like to hang. The beach is huge, a long, flat sandy surface, which provides ample room for setting up camp to just lie in sun or play beach games. If that's what you're after, this is the best option. If you want to hike the beach, I advise Driftwood Beach at the northern tip, or Glory Beach at the southern point of the island. Both are amazing walks around the top/bottom of the island, and the sights and wildlife are breathtaking. Corsair allows leashed dogs, and bikes, but dogs and bikes are not allowed on the JI eastern shore any farther south than Corsair, due to sea turtle nesting. This beach park has beach showers, and food/shopping is very close by in the Beach Village shops.

Super convenient free parking with easy access to bathrooms, shower, and even a play park! The…read morebeach is a short walk over a bridge or two depending which walkway you take. It's a vast open beach with no shade and it's beautiful! Unfortunately for us when we went the wind was so incredibly wicked it was like an getting assaulted by the beach the second we walked onto open sand and it whisked my sons bucket down the shoreline which was tricky to get back lol so we didn't last long lol if the weather was better I imagine we could spend a day there. Bring a lunch and when you're ready go shower clean up eat and let the kids play at the park!

This is actually a free access point to the beach that is open until after dark (but not…read moreindefinitely). It has some facilities and there are picnic tables, but this is also the kind of island that has a lot of mosquitos so I would be heading towards the beach. This area has some inland water that is apparently permanent enough that they've put pontoon bridges over it, which is kind of cool. The beach here is a little bit wider than on other nearby areas, so the tide is not forcing you to literally sit on a dune and you can walk around the surf fishers. So it is a decent ocean beach, if still on the crowded side.

Was unlucky as far as finding anything but it was a blast to go and at least look also the trail…read morein was not as bad as advertised and u found a friend

Sharktooth Beach is a hidden beach on Jekyll Island, accessible by a path off of S Riverview Dr.,…read moresouth of the water park. There is no designated parking by the trail, nor any signage to indicate it's for Sharktooth Beach. When I stopped, I just saw other cars parked there and asked people nearby if it was for Sharktooth Beach. (I've posted a picture of the trailhead in case you arrive with no one else there.) It is a 0.85mi walk to the beach, through marsh on one side and woodsy brush on the other. There was a gator near where we parked. The walk took about 20min with a toddler. I do not recommend bringing a bunch of beach gear and expecting to stay here for beach leisure. The "sand" is almost pure crushed shells, and is NOT pleasant to sit on nor even to walk on with bare feet. I don't even recommend bringing your dogs because their paws will not be happy either. This beach is only meant to be walked for a fossilized shark tooth hunt. The span of "beach" is short compared to the coastline on the other side of the island. You will walk it in 2 minutes, tops. Again, this place is really just to look for those fossils. And the shark teeth are not easy to find. Luckily, there was a seasoned shark tooth hunter present, and she gifted a tooth to my kid, otherwise we'd have had nothing to show for our expedition. Jekyll is in the Golden Isles shark breeding zone, one of the biggest in the world, so you are likely to find teeth here, and much of the shell matter is dumped there after they dredge the river. But the diminutive size of these teeth is the challenge. You need to have time, patience, and an eagle eye. Good luck!

I was in town for the day and decided to go check out this area since there were no reviews yet…read more The playground looks like a fun place for kids and there are baseball fields too! The women's bathroom was clean (which is always nice). Across the street there are two tennis courts and a space to walk or play with pets. The locals I came across were very friendly too!

We stopped here on the way back from visiting the Horton House Ruins and the du Bignon cemetery…read more It's not far away off the main road. We came here to see their fishing pier, not realizing that it's also a venue for horseback riding. But the signs say this as you are entering the area. This is one of the few really buggy places we encountered on island. In fact, the buggiest. We were glad we had some spray on. So, plan ahead if you're coming here. We drove in on a very narrow road along with a few of the bicycle riders. We passed some of the picnic areas with tables and grills. We parked along the water in the small, paved lot next to the bait and tackle shop/convenience store (it seems to have a bit of everything). We took a walk part of the way down the pier. It is quite large and T-shaped with a straightaway section that's open air and a partly covered area further out into the water. We stopped and talked to some of those who were fishing. We were curious to see what they were catching, if anything. We were told flounder and sheepshead. (Just a note: both are tasty fish, and we were surprised to find no restaurants on island serving either of these fish.). It was delightful with a slight breeze. The park is located across the road from a campground so that may be why there were a lot of bike riders here. In addition, there is a jogging trail which we didn't explore. Supposedly you can see some ships from this pier, as well, but we didn't see any at the time we were there.

This is a cool park at the northern tip of the island. It is located directly across the street…read morefrom the Jekyll campground. This area features a fishing pier, a bait & tackle / convenience shop, picnic areas, grill areas, public restrooms, beach access, views of the sunset, bike and hiking paths, and pens from which the horseback rides embark. This is a very cool place, but i experienced two drawbacks. One was the gnats. Nowhere else on the island did I get gnats than here. I was all over the island, all times of day and night, and honestly this was the only spot where i felt any bugs! I presume it's because of the fish being caught everywhere, but still it's unpleasant. I wish the parks department would look into insect control. If toxins are a concern, natural solutions like nematodes and bats are great at controlling bugs. The other issue was some of the people who consistently hung out at this location. I definitely felt safe everywhere on this island, but I did feel a little intimidated at this spot with some of the fishermen. It seemed like people were casing one another, for what, I do not know. But there was this weird anxiousness and paranoia going on for a lot of the fishing people. Maybe they were competing with one another for the best spot to fish? Just kind of pacing past one another, giving dirty looks. Odd. Or maybe they were just losing their minds from the bugs? People were definitely on edge any time I visited this place. I smiled at many, no one smiled back. Just odd. So those things aside, I recommend you plan to wear bug repellent and just keep moving around as you visit this place. Idk how people were grilling and having picnics with those gnats. Good for them. But my advice is to just make your rounds to see everything and hike it outta there to anywhere else on the island if you want to just sit and chill!