This is truly a hidden gem! This was recommended on a YouTube video I watched regarding visiting…read moreJekyll Island. As soon as we parked and saw the pond it was worth it. An alligator sunning itself in the middle of the pond surrounded by turtles. We didn't walk the trail as there were other people already down it. The pond was crystal. You could see fish. Beautiful.

This was one of my favorite sightseeing places/trails. It's well shaded so was enjoyable even in 90…read moredegree heat. Saw some turtles and I hear an alligator lives under the deck.

Do you want stagfwring views, gorgeous back grounds, jellyfish and shells? Then Driftwood beach may…read morebe your perfect spot. Pay your $10 per car fee to get onto Jekyll Island, qnd drive 4 miles north. Enjoy the 1950's - to modern home styles, as the drive is a beautiful one. There is street parking, but only on the left side of the street and only about 14 parking spots. The walk to the beach is easy to moderate while walking thru soft sand, until the beach, where ancient trees lay on their sides, and roots make for a gorgeous view. The day we were here, the beach was littered with the bodies of cannon ball jellyfish, which are surprisingly solid, so watch your feet. Enjoy the temperate water of the Atlantic ocean and the bright South Ga Sun for a perfect afternoon.

Wow, I'm so happy we were able to come here and see this beach for ourselves!…read more You don't know the scale of how big these trees are until your standing right there! They are huge and so many, I've just never seen a beach like this. And they seem to be fossilized, the wood is very hard like stone! So cool!

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.

Just attempted to walk the AR trail. Very disappointing! It really needs some basic maintenance…read moreas large trees blocking the trail, rotten wood benches and quite a bit of debris. Doesn't appear it is cared for at all.

Do you remember choose your own adventure books? The sun has begun to set, the sky turning to a…read morewarm gradient of soft blue and firey orange, you find yourself in the woods, on the cusp of sunset, with no light source should it become too much darker, which way do you turn? Left, right or turn back and retrace your steps? Turn to page 7 to read what happens if you go right... Alice Richards Botanical Trail is a lot like that. I took a sunset walk, a gamble, and it was well worth it. The trail is scattered with native species of plants being reintroduced to the area, so if you're looking to scratch the horticulture itch you'll do that here. If you want to find a place where the only sounds you'll hear are angry squirrels fighting over nuts...you'll certainly find that here. I wonder if there's some kind of secret squirrel fight club out there...sounded like it for a bit. I digress... It's a beautiful trail, soft soil and crunchy leaves. Surrounded by the sounds of nature and silence. Which way will you turn?

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!

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.]

St. Simons Land Trust is the org trying to preserve as much land as possible on the heavily-built,…read moreSSI. Unlike the state park that is the entirety of Jekyll Island, St. Simons is densely populated, with relatively little greenspace. On a map, most is city grey. Luckily, the St. Simons Land Trust has claimed most of the northern end of the island, and it is a lush sanctuary for wildlife and vegetation. The site where St Simons Land Trust's offices sit, was going to be a Dollar Tree. I know in my tree-hugging heart that this is a better choice, but I do love my DT. That said, SSLT has various smaller properties around the island, some as small as a fraction of an acre. Whatever they can get their hands on, they'll grab, because greenspace is limited, especially on an island. They have information about every preserve or other land holding on the main page of their website, even the smallest ones, that are not developed into anything for the public to visit. They also divulge the funding sources for many of these acquisitions. The staff in the office is very friendly. I called a few times before visiting their properties. All are free, and leashed dogs are allowed at most. They recommended I stop by and pick up a "Passport" for my son, which is a cute little booklet highlighting the special flora and fauna unique to each of their properties, and kids can check stuff off as they go. It's free, and it's very well done, not only to use in the field, but to keep as a souvenir to take home. SSLT is doing great work, and I am excited to watch what they do with their acquisitions, and hope they are able to buy up as much of the remaining land as they can!

This foundation has done amazing work on the island to preserve historic and wildlife spaces. We…read morebenefit by admiring these beautiful spaces with nature paths to explore. Scattered throughout the island are opportunities to go back in time and relish nature havens

The advantage St. Simons has going for the occasional cyclist is that it is totally flat. So it's…read moreeasy for even the cycling novice to ride great distances without too much effort. This path is well-maintained, runs the length of the island and is perfect for bikers and walkers. The portions of the path that run right through the developed area along Frederica road aren't anything special, but other portions that run along the marsh offer stunning vistas, especially at sunset. My only complaint is that this path isn't more well lit. St. Simons is a small community, and I feel safe walking there at night (with a buddy of course). Because there are very few lights along the path, walking at night is difficult, if not impossible.

We adore this campground. We have stayed 4 times over the past 2 years. The sites are spacious and…read moresettled deep in the woods. The facilities are well kept. The employees and camp hosts are friendly and helpful. There is lots of trails and wildlife to enjoy. Anytime we have had issues, they are promptly addressed and rectified. The only slight drawback is the paper mill stench. It can be quite awful at times. Oh! And the noseeum's. Bring bug spray! We regularly visit Savannah, Jacksonville, St Simons, Jekyll Island, Amelia Island and Okefenokee National Park while staying here. Brunswick has all the necessities you would need and is a nice town. Husband always visits the Pinball Palace! Highly recommend staying a while and really exploring the beauty of this area.

Looking for a quiet place to park the van that was near water and close enough to the Interstate…read morethat I would get LTE coverage, I found it here at Blythe Island. Transients like me and longer term stays are available in the campground. There's just something about being waterside that I find helpful for my mood and my productivity, I was here for about two hours for phone calls and emails, sitting in the van and listening to the quiet lapping of the shore. There are activities here including picnic shelters, a playground, a fishing pier and a boat launch with crane. I was able to watch them pull a boat in with the crane and load it onto a trailer. Very cool and clever. [Review 19929 overall - 616 in Georgia - 902 of 2023.]

Nice area to walk around and get some fresh air. Not much to see but it's nice to get outside…read moresometimes! Tip: "Guale" is pronounced "Wally"