Beautiful, untouched, and pristine are just a few of a bounty of words that could be used to describe this wonderful place. Amazing and awesome are a couple others. Not a lot of people make it to Ossabaw Island. For one there is no regular ferry service nor is there a road that runs to the island. This is on purpose. Sandy Torrey West, whose family has owned the island since the 1920's, sold the island to the state in 70's as a Heritage Preserve with the understanding that Ossabaw would "be used for natural, scientific and cultural study, research and education, and environmentally sound preservation, conservation and management of the Island's ecosystem". That means that unless you go there for one of the few deer / hog hunts the state puts on or you go there for an event you probably aren't getting there. If you have a boat you can park it off the beach and come up on the beach, but it's illegal to go past the high tide line of the island. I believe the island sees less than 2000 people a year on it. It shows too. I got to check the island out for myself after going on a service trip with the Georgia Conservancy. We arrived on Friday by a special ferry, worked on cleaning up the large spanish style Torrey West mansion and the clubhouse/grounds Saturday, and left Sunday. During this time we took full advantage of the clubhouse that was built in the 1880's and recently revamped. We also hung out with the feral donkeys that are on the island, as well as took an hour long ride through the forest and marsh to check out the beach. We saw armadillos, wild hogs, alligators, and lots of shore birds. It's amazing how wild and unspoiled the island is. No trash, no noise, no people. Just wilderness. The ride through the interior of the island made me think of Jurassic Park. Just huge old live oaks with spanish moss hanging down and lots of palmettos scattered about. Interesting tidbit is the road that we went down is possibly oldest continously-used dirt road in the country. Mrs. Torrey West has moved off the island at age 103 and the Ossabaw Island Foundation will soon be in the process of slowly renovating her house as they already have for the clubhouse and bunkhouse. There are also some slave cabins that are slowly being restored as well. Long before Mrs. Torrey West and family lived here there were 4 plantations on the island. If interested in seeing and staying on the island yourself look on the Ossabaw Island Foundation website, they manage the cultural and education aspects of the island, and check out the calendar. There are often writing or artist workshops which is what Sandy Torrey West wanted for her island. The Island is ridiculously beautiful and I am so thankful to Sandy Torrey West and other wealthy land owners like her on the Georgia coast who thought that the best thing for their islands would be conservation for future generations. I have been to Cumberland which I always thought was untouched, but Ossabaw beats Cumberland out by a mile. The unspoiled nature of the island is something that can only being experienced by being there. *Google Eleanor Torrey West for more info on how this island came to be. The story behind her life and love of the island is quite interesting. read more

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