Okefenokee Swamp Park

After leaving the A1A in Fernandina Beach, Florida, I visited the Okefenokee Swamp Park in south Georgia. It was directly on my path home so on a whim on a Saturday afternoon, I paid a visit.

I think the ultimate review of this park is – this is not the Okefenokee Swamp you’re looking for.

The Okefenokee Swamp

The Okefenokee Swamp covers 438,000 acres of Georgia wetland, one of the world’s largest freshwater ecosystems. 402,ooo of those acres have been protected since 1936 as a National Refuge.

There are three entrances into the park: the main entrance with a visitor center, boardwalks, a boat tour, canoe rentals, a homestead to visit, trails, sort of all the main stuff. The second entrance is through Stephen C. Foster State Park, where you’ll find boat trails and canoe rentals, plus some camping facilities. And the third entrance is the privately-owned Okefenokee Swamp Park, which I will discuss below.

Cost to enter the first two entrances is $5 per private car and good for 7 days.

Okefenokee Swamp Park

The cost to enter the third entrance of Okefenokee Swamp Park? $20! And $19 for kids, seniors, and the military. What you get for that $20 is some sad-looking animal habitats, a nature show, an exhibit on a comic strip popular in the ’50-’60s, a boardwalk, and a short train ride to a run-down pioneer village. There is a “low walk” out to an observation tower that is really cool but that’s about the only thing I found really enjoyable here.

The park itself

Walking in the main entrance takes you through the gift shop, where you buy your ticket and book a boat tour, if there’s one available. Past the gift shop is a roughly circular park area. To the left is the train (I think, I can’t find a map online), to the right is the boat tour and the boardwalk out to the observation tower, in the back is a building with a small theater and exhibit space. In the center is a snack bar and some bathrooms. Scattered around are habitats for alligators and turtles, though I never really saw anything while I was there… Everything is a bit overgrown. Maybe that’s just swamp aesthetic.

Eye On Nature show

Included in admission is a show called “Eye On Nature.” It’s not held in the distinctly overgrown outdoor theater. Instead, it’s held in a small room inside the exhibit hall. During Covid, I didn’t really enjoy being indoors with strangers and it was difficult to keep my distance from others. The show itself is pretty much like any reptile nature show you’ve ever seen. Snakes and turtles in boxes.

There are a few walk-through exhibit areas in this building, including a room dedicated to Walt Kelly’s Pogo, a comic strip character set in the Okefenokee Swamp. It ran from 1948-1975 – I vaguely remember it myself.

Train Tour

I’m always up for a train – here, you get a (very) short trip through the more solid ground of the swamp to a small pioneer village and museum. Basically, if you’ve ever seen a pioneer settlement in your life, you’ve seen it done better than this. A cabin, some outbuildings, and a building with pictures that reference the Native American history of the area. The swamp was also used as a movie location for a few B-movies, mostly made in the 50-70’s era. I think there are some pictures of that here too.

Boardwalk and Observation Tower

This is where I really enjoyed the park – in getting away from the poorly-presented and into nature. There are higher, traditional boardwalks leading out from the boat dock. Then, farther along, you can continue on a “low walk” a set of boards right on the level with the water (and sometimes just below.)

These lead you out to a tall observation tower. If you climb all the way to the top, you get a lovely view over the top of the swamp for miles. It’s really nice.

Boat Tours

However, the best way to really get into the Okefenokee Swamp is by boat. When I visited on a Saturday afternoon around lunchtime, I was too late to get a spot on a boat so I didn’t get that experience. Had I been able to, it may have changed my whole opinion. The boat tour seems to be the thing here.

There is one outfit, Okefenokee Adventures, that operates all the boat tours in the park, both in the National Refuge and at the private Okefenokee Swamp Park. In the National Refuge, $28 boat tours ($17 for kids 4-11) last 90 minutes and are in addition to your $5 entrance fee. At the Okefenokee Swamp Park, the 45-minutes boat tours are $30 ($25 if you book ahead) and INCLUDE admission to the rest of the park – the train, show, and observation tower.

So honestly, if you’re okay with a shorter boat tour and a sub-par park experience, Okefenokee Swamp Park is the cheaper option overall. IF you book ahead and there are spots available. I’d still go with the National Refuge option. (And you may need to book ahead there too.) There’s just so much more to do and so much more value for your money. I look forward to going back someday and finding out.