Okefenokee Swamp - Wikipedia

Wetlands in Florida and Georgia, US "Okefenokee" redirects here. For the 1959 film, see Okefenokee (film).

Okefenokee Swamp
Location	Southern GeorgiaNorthern Florida
Coordinates	30°37′N 82°19′W / 30.617°N 82.317°W / 30.617; -82.317
Area	438,000 acres (1,770 km2)
U.S. National Natural Landmark
Designated	1974

The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre (177,000 ha), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness. The Okefenokee Swamp is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia and is the largest "blackwater" swamp in North America.

The swamp was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1974.[1]

Etymology

[edit]

The name Okefenokee is attested with more than a dozen variant spellings of the word in historical literature. Though often translated as "land of trembling earth", the name is likely derived from Hitchiti oki fanôːki "bubbling water".[2]

Origin

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The Okefenokee was formed over the past 6,500 years by the accumulation of peat in a shallow basin on the edge of an ancient Atlantic coastal terrace, the geological relic of a Pleistocene estuary. The swamp is bordered by the Trail Ridge, a strip of elevated land believed to have formed as coastal dunes or an offshore barrier island. The St. Marys River and the Suwannee River both originate in the swamp. The Suwannee River originates as stream channels in the heart of the Okefenokee Swamp and drains at least 90 percent of the swamp's watershed southwest toward the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Marys River, which drains only 5 to 10 percent of the swamp's southeastern corner, flows south along the western side of Trail Ridge, through the ridge at St. Marys River Shoals, and north again along the eastern side of Trail Ridge before turning east to the Atlantic.

History

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The earliest known inhabitants of the Okefenokee Swamp were the Timucua-speaking Oconi, who dwelt in or on the margin of the swamp. The Spanish friars built the mission of Santiago de Oconi in order to convert them to Christianity. The Oconi's boating skills, developed in the hazardous swamps, likely contributed to their later employment by the Spanish as ferrymen across the St. Johns River, near the riverside terminus of North Florida's camino real.[3]

Modern-day longtime residents of the Okefenokee Swamp, referred to as "Swampers", are of overwhelmingly English ancestry. Due to relative isolation, the inhabitants of the Okefenokee used Elizabethan phrases and syntax, preserved since the early colonial period when such speech was common in England, well into the 20th century.[4] The Suwannee Canal was dug across the swamp in the late 19th century in a failed attempt to drain the Okefenokee. After the Suwannee Canal Company's bankruptcy, most of the swamp was purchased by the Hebard family of Philadelphia, who conducted extensive cypress logging operations from 1909 to 1927. Several other logging companies ran railroad lines into the swamp until 1942; some remnants remain visible crossing swamp waterways. On the west side of the swamp, at Billy's Island, logging equipment and other artifacts remain of a 1920s logging town of 600 residents. Most of the Okefenokee Swamp is included in the 403,000-acre (163,000 ha) Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

The largest wildfire in the swamp's history began with a lightning strike near the center of the refuge on May 5, 2007, eventually merging with another wildfire that began near Waycross, Georgia, on April 16 when a tree fell on a power line. Named the Bugaboo Scrub Fire, by May 31, it had burned more than 600,000 acres (240,000 ha), or more than 935 square miles, and remains the largest wildfire in both Georgia and Florida history.[5][6]

In 2011, the Honey Prairie Fire consumed 309,200 acres (125,100 ha) of land in the swamp.[7]

Access

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There are four public entrances:

• Suwannee Canal Recreation Area at Folkston, Georgia
• Kingfisher Landing at Race Pond, Georgia
• Stephen C. Foster State Park at Fargo, Georgia
• Suwannee Sill Recreation Area at Fargo, Georgia

In addition, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Okefenokee Swamp Park, provides the northernmost access into the Okefenokee Swamp near Waycross, Georgia.

State Road 2 passes through the Florida portion between the Georgia cities of Council and Moniac.

The graded Swamp Perimeter Road encircles Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Gated and closed to public use, it provides access for fire management of the interface between the federal refuge and the surrounding industrial tree farms.

Tourism

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Many visitors enter the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge each year. The swamp provides an important economic resource to southeast Georgia and northeast Florida. More than 600,000 visitors from as many as 46 countries travel to the Okefenokee refuge each year to enjoy its unmatched wilderness. This tourism supports over 750 local jobs and contributes over $64 million to local economies.[citation needed]

Titanium mining operations

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A 50-year titanium mining operation by DuPont was set to begin in 1997, but protests and public–government opposition over possibly disastrous environmental effects from 1996 to 2000 forced the company to abandon the project in 2000 and retire their mineral rights permanently. In 2003, DuPont donated the 16,000 acres (6,500 ha) it had purchased for mining to The Conservation Fund, and in 2005, nearly 7,000 acres (2,800 ha) of the donated land was transferred to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.[8]

In 2018, Twin Pines Minerals LLC, a mining company based in Birmingham, Alabama, proposed another titanium mining operation near the Okefenokee Swamp. Over 60,000 people sent comments opposing the operation.[9] Later, in 2020, a new rule by the first Trump administration reduced what was protected under the Clean Water Act, removing about 400 acres (160 ha) in the proposed mining site from federal protections.[10] The updated plan would include mining 577.4 acres (233.7 ha) for titanium and zirconium, 2.9 miles (4.7 km) southeast of the Okefenokee Refuge.[11] In 2022, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia temporarily blocked the proposed titanium mine after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warned of severe potential damage to the wildlife refuge.[12] In a final resolution to the case, on June 20, 2025, the nonprofit environmental group The Conservation Fund of Arlington, Virginia, purchased all 7,700 acres (3,100 ha) of land owned by Twin Pines Minerals LLC near Okefenokee. The deal, worth a reported US$60 million, formally ended plans by the company to mine titanium oxide and other minerals near the swamp.[13]

The Okefenokee Swamp had been listed as one of America's Most Endangered Rivers in 2020[14] and again in 2023 on account of the mining threats.[15]

Environment

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The Okefenokee Swamp is part of the Southeastern conifer forests ecoregion. Much of the Okefenokee is a southern coastal plain nonriverine basin swamp, forested by bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) and swamp tupelo (Nyssa biflora) trees. Upland areas support southern coastal plain oak domes and hammocks, thick stands of evergreen oaks. Drier and more frequently burned areas support Atlantic coastal plain upland longleaf pine woodlands of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris).[16]

The swamp has many species of carnivorous plants, including many species of Utricularia, Sarracenia psittacina, and the giant Sarracenia minor var. okefenokeensis. A species of mushroom-like fungus Rogersiomyces okefenokeensis J.L. Crane & Schokn. 1978 is found in the swamp.

The Okefenokee Swamp is home to many wading birds, including herons, egrets, ibises, cranes, and bitterns, though populations fluctuate with seasons and water levels. The swamp also hosts numerous woodpecker and songbird species.[17] Okefenokee is famous for its amphibians and reptiles such as toads, frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes, and an abundance of American alligators. The oldest known alligator, named "Okefenokee Joe" after environmentalist Okefenokee Joe, died in September 2021, at almost 80 years of age.[18][19] The Okefenokee Swamp is also a critical habitat for the Florida black bear.

• Wildlife of Okefenokee Swamp
• Okefenokee giant hooded pitcher plant
• Green-striped grasshopper
• Eastern lubber grasshopper nymph
• A large American alligator
• White-tailed deer

Recent events

[edit] Main article: Bugaboo Scrub Fire

More than 600,000 acres (240,000 ha) of the Okefenokee region burned from April to July 2007. Essentially the entire swamp burned, but the degrees of impact are widely varied. Smoke from the fires was reported as far away as Atlanta and Orlando.

Four years later, in April 2011, the Honey Prairie wildfire began when the swamp was left much drier than usual by an extreme drought. As of January 2012, the Honey Prairie fire had already scorched more than 315,000 acres (127,000 ha) of the 438,000-acre (177,000 ha) Okefenokee, sending volumes of smoke across the southern Atlantic seaboard and with an unknown impact on wildlife. With the drought still continuing, the massive Honey Prairie fire continued to burn at only 75% containment.[20] On April 17, 2012, the Honey Prairie Fire was finally declared out. Thousands of firefighters, refuge neighbors, and businesses contributed to the safe suppression of this fire. At the peak of fire activity on June 27, 2011, the Honey Prairie Complex had grown to 283,673 acres (114,798 ha) and had 202 engines, 112 dozers, 20 water tenders, 12 helicopters, and 6 crews with a total of 1,458 personnel assigned. Over the duration of the fire, there were no fatalities or serious injuries. Firefighters managed to contain most of the fire within the boundaries of the 402,000 acre Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, with only 18,206 acres (7,368 ha) burned outside the refuge.[21]

On April 6, 2017, a lightning strike started the West Mims Fire,[22] which burned about 152,000 acres (62,000 ha).[23]

In popular culture

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• The name "Okefenokee" has appeared many times in American pop culture, including Walt Kelly's comic strip Pogo, where the characters made their home in the Okefenokee Swamp, and Scooby-Doo, in which Scooby-Dum comes from the Okefenokee as well.
• The 1941 movie Swamp Water, directed by Jean Renoir, starring Walter Brennan and Walter Huston, and based on the novel by Vereen Bell, was shot on location in the Okefenokee near Waycross, Georgia.
• The 1952 movie Lure of the Wilderness, a remake of Swamp Water starring Jeffrey Hunter, Walter Brennan (reprising his Swamp Water role), and Jean Peters, was set in the Okefenokee Swamp.[24]
• In 1974, two LP recordings of the sounds of the swamp were released as disk 6 of the Environments series.
• Tales of the Okefenokee was a mill chute ride at Six Flags Over Georgia that ran from 1967 to 1980, with theming inspired by the Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris.[25]
• The 1976 movie Gator, starring and directed by Burt Reynolds, and the title song of the same name by Jerry Reed, are set in the Okefenokee swamp.[26]
• An illustrated children's book, Deep in the Swamp by Donna M. Bateman (2007), describes the plant and animals of the Okefenokee Swamp.

References

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1. ^ "Okefenokee Swamp". nps.gov. National Park Service. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
2. ^ Handbook of North American Indians: Languages. Government Printing Office. January 1, 1978. ISBN 9780160487743.
3. ^ Milanich, Jerald T. (August 14, 1996). Timucua. VNR AG. pp. 50, 202. ISBN 9781557864888. Anthropologist John Worth has suggested the Oconi, a group unrelated to the Oconee Indians of later times who spoke a Muskhogean language, were inland on the eastern edge of the Okefenokee Swamp.
4. ^ Matschat, Cecile Hulse (1938). Suwannee River: Strange Green Land. University of Georgia Press. p. 7.
5. ^ "Georgia Forestry Commission Home Page". Gatrees.org. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
6. ^ "Massive Blaze in S.E. Georgia Jumps Fire Lines". Jacksonville, Florida: WJXT-TV. May 25, 2007. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
7. ^ "InciWeb: Honey Prairie Complex". InciWeb. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
8. ^ Dunlap, Stanley (August 8, 2019). "Public pressure killed Okefenokee mining plans once. Will it again?". Georgia Recorder. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
9. ^ Marks, Josh (January 2, 2021). "LETTER: Sen. Perdue threatening to drain the wrong swamp, Georgia's world-famous Okefenokee". Madison Journal Today. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
10. ^ Peck, Rena Ann (November 4, 2020). "River watchdog: Federal clean water law changes threaten Okefenokee". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
11. ^ "Twin Pines Minerals, LLC – Charlton County". Twin Pines Minerals, LLC. n.d. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
12. ^ Mecke, Marisa (June 3, 2022). "Army Corps blocks mine near Okefenokee, cites failure to consult Muscogee Creek Nation". Savannah Morning News.
13. ^ "Conservation group makes $60M land deal to end mining threat outside Okefenokee Swamp". Associated Press. June 20, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
14. ^ Landers, Mary (April 14, 2020). "Okefenokee named among 'most endangered' rivers". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
15. ^ Mecke, Marisa (April 18, 2023). "American Rivers names Okefenokee in Top 10 most endangered rivers". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
16. ^ United States Geological Survey. "Land Cover Viewer" (Map). National Gap Analysis Program. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
17. ^ "Bird Checklists of the United States: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge". US Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
18. ^ Paúl, María Luisa (September 11, 2021). "Okefenokee Joe, 'an amazing old' alligator named after a Georgia singer, has died". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
19. ^ "Okefenokee Joe, an alligator believed to be as old as WWII, passes away". FOX TV Digital Team. September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
20. ^ "Honey Prairie Complex". InciWeb Incident Information system. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2012."Honey Prairie Complex Fires". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved February 2, 2012."Okefenokee's birds undeterred by fires". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
21. ^ http://www.fws.gov/okefenokee/PDF/honey%20prairie%20fire%20declared%20out.pdf[permanent dead link]
22. ^ "South Georgia wildfire forces evacuations; ash reaches Jacksonville". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. May 19, 2017. Archived from the original on May 15, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
23. ^ "GA Firefighters Report Progress Against West Mims Fire in Okefenokee". Firefighter News. May 19, 2017. Archived from the original on May 18, 2017. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
24. ^ "Lure of the Wilderness". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
25. ^ Defunctland: The History of the Terrifying Splash Mountain Predecessor, Tales of the Okefenokee, March 7, 2019, retrieved May 15, 2023
26. ^ Jerry Reed – Gator, retrieved February 20, 2025

Bibliography

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• Afable, Patricia O. & Beeler, Madison S. (1996). "Place Names". In Goddard, Ives & Sturtevant, William C. (eds.). Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 17: Languages. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
• Worth, John E. (1998). Timucua Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida. Volume 2: Resistance and Destruction. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1574-X. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
• Nelson, Megan Kate (2005). Trembling Earth: A Cultural History of the Okefenokee Swamp. Athens: University of Georgia Press. This is a readable book from a professional historian that covers the history of the human interaction with the swamp from about 1700 to the 1940s, very good background for those planning a visit.

See also

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• Atchafalaya Basin
• Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge
• Carolina Bays
• Everglades
• Great Black Swamp
• Great Cypress Swamp
• Great Dismal Swamp
• Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
• Mountain Bogs National Wildlife Refuge
• Pocosin

External links

[edit] Wikimedia Commons has media related to Okefenokee Swamp.

• GeorgiaEncyclopedia.org: Natural History of the Okefenokee Swamp
• FWS.gov: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge website
• Gorp.com: Okefenokee Swamp and National Wildlife Refuge
• Okefenokee Adventures website
• Okefenokee Pastimes website
• Okefenokee Swamp parks website
• Okefenokee Nation website
• Charlton County: Okefenokee Swamp historical marker

v t e Protected areas of Georgia
Federal	National Battlefield and Military Parks Chickamauga and Chattanooga Kennesaw Mountain National Estuarine Research Reserves Sapelo Island National Forests Chattahoochee–Oconee National Historic Sites and Historical Parks Andersonville Jimmy Carter Martin Luther King Jr. Ocmulgee Mounds National Marine Sanctuaries Gray's Reef National Monuments Fort Frederica Fort Pulaski National Recreation Areas Chattahoochee River National Seashores Cumberland Island National Trails Appalachian Trail of Tears National Wild and Scenic Rivers Chattooga River National Wildlife Refuges Banks Lake Blackbeard Island Bond Swamp Eufaula Harris Neck Okefenokee Piedmont Savannah Wassaw Wolf Island Other National Historic Landmarks National Natural Landmarks National Register of Historic Places Wilderness Areas
State	Parks Amicalola Falls Black Rock Mountain Chattahoochee Bend Cloudland Canyon Crooked River Don Carter Elijah Clark F.D. Roosevelt Florence Marina Fort Mountain Fort Yargo General Coffee George L. Smith George T. Bagby Georgia Veterans Hamburg Hard Labor Creek High Falls Indian Springs Jack Hill James H. "Sloppy" Floyd Laura S. Walker Little Ocmulgee Magnolia Springs Mistletoe Moccasin Creek Panola Mountain Providence Canyon Red Top Mountain Reed Bingham Richard B. Russell Sapelo Island Seminole Skidaway Island Smithgall Woods Sprewell Bluff Stephen C. Foster Sweetwater Creek Tallulah Gorge Tugaloo Unicoi Victoria Bryant Vogel Watson Mill Bridge Historic parks and sites A. H. Stephens Chief Vann House Dahlonega Gold Museum Etowah Indian Mounds Fort McAllister Fort King George Fort Morris Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Jarrell Plantation Jefferson Davis Memorial Kolomoki Mounds Lapham–Patterson House Lebanon Plantation Little White House New Echota Pickett's Mill Battlefield Robert Toombs House Travelers Rest Wormsloe Forests Bartram Broxton Rocks Dawson Dixon Memorial Hightower Paulding Spirit Creek Other Centennial Olympic Park Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Jekyll Island Len Foote Hike Inn Radium Springs Sapelo Island Stone Mountain Park
County,municipaland other	Parks Bobby Brown Park Chehaw Park Cobb County Parks Hartwell Lakeside John Tanner McIntosh Reserve Murphey Candler Park Okefenokee Swamp Park Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park Roswell Recreation and Parks Seaborn Jones Memorial Park Shaking Rock Park Standing Boy Creek Park Forests and nature preserves Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center Fernbank Forest Marshall Forest Morningside Nature Preserve Phinizy Swamp Nature Park Reynolds Nature Preserve Nature and environmentaleducation centers Birdsong Nature Center Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Chattahoochee Nature Center Cochran Mill Nature Center Dauset Trails Nature Center Dunwoody Nature Center Elachee Nature Science Center Georgia Nature Center Grand Bay Wetland Education Center Melvin L. Newman Wetlands Center Oatland Island Wildlife Center Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center Panola Mountain State Park Nature Center Sandy Creek Nature Center Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum & Nature Center Tidelands Nature Center Tybee Island Marine Science Center West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center
Georgia Department of Natural Resources Georgia Forestry Commission

v t e Significant waterways of Florida
Larger rivers	Alapaha Apalachicola Aucilla Blackwater Caloosahatchee Chattahoochee Chipola Choctawhatchee Econlockhatchee Escambia Hillsborough Indian River Kissimmee Myakka Ochlockonee Ocklawaha Pea Peace Perdido Santa Fe St. Johns St. Marys Suwannee Withlacoochee (North) Withlacoochee (South) Yellow
Lakes	Apopka Crescent Blue Cypress Down East Tohopekaliga George Harney Harris Iamonia Istokpoga Jackson Jesup Kissimmee Manatee Miccosukee Monroe Okeechobee Poinsett Rodman Rousseau Seminole Talquin Tohopekaliga Tsala Apopka Ward Washington Weir
Smaller rivers	Alafia Alapahoochee Anclote Braden Carrabelle Chassahowitzka Crooked Crystal Dead East East Bay Eau Gallie Econfina Estero Homosassa Hontoon Dead Ichetucknee Imperial Little (Biscayne Bay) Little (Ochlockonee) Little Econlockhatchee Little Manatee Little Wekiva Loxahatchee Manatee Matanzas Miami New (Broward) New (Carabelle) New (Santa Fe) Oleta Orange Pithlachascotee Rainbow Ribault Shark Silver Sopchoppy St. Lucie St. Marks St. Sebastian Steinhatchee Tomoka Trout Waccasassa Wacissa Wakulla Weeki Wachee Wekiva
Creeks andstreams	Billy's Black Blackwater (Hillsborough) Blackwater (Lake) Crane Cross Econfina Fisheating Myakkahatchee Orange Pottsburg Shingle Snapper Turkey
Canals	Canaveral Barge Canal Cross Florida Barge Canal Haulover Canal Hillsboro Canal Miami Canal Mud Lake Canal St. Johns-Indian River Barge Canal St. Lucie Canal Tamiami Canal Tampa Bypass Canal
See also	Coastal waters of Florida Everglades Intracoastal Waterway Indian River Lagoon List of Florida rivers List of major springs in Florida Okeechobee Waterway Okefenokee Swamp Outstanding Florida Waters Paynes Prairie

v t e Significant waterways of Georgia
Larger rivers	Alapaha Alcovy Altamaha Apalachee Aucilla Broad Chattahoochee Chattooga (Coosa River) Chattooga (Tugaloo River) Canoochee Conasauga Coosa Etowah Flint Hiwassee Little (Oconee River) Little (Savannah River) Little (Withlacoochee River) Little Tallapoosa Little Tennessee Nottely Ochlockonee Ocmulgee Oconee Ogeechee River Ohoopee Satilla Savannah South (Ocmulgee River) St. Marys Suwannee Tallapoosa Toccoa/Ocoee Towaliga Withlacoochee Yellow
Lakes	Allatoona Banks Lake Blackshear Burton Carters Chatuge Chehaw George W. Andrews Goat Rock Harding Hartwell Jackson Lanier Nottely Oconee Oliver Rabun Richard B. Russell Seminole Sinclair Strom Thurmond Tugalo Walter F. George West Point
Smaller rivers	Alabaha Alapahoochee Black (Okefenokee Swamp) Cartecay Coleman Coosawattee Dog Ellijay Hudson Jacks Jerico Little (Etowah River) Little Ochlockonee Little Ogeechee (Hancock County) Little Satilla (Satilla River) Mulberry River New (Chattahoochee River) New (Withlacoochee River) Oostanaula Soque South Newport Tallulah Tugaloo Willacoochee
Tidal rivers	Bear Belfast Broro Brunswick Buffalo Bull Chestatee Crescent Crooked Cumberland Darien Duplin Frederica Halfmoon Hampton Herb Laurel View Little Ogechee (Chatham County) Little Satilla (Atlantic Ocean) Mackay Medway Mud North River (Darien River) North (St. Marys River) North Newport Odingsell Sapelo Shad Skidaway Sope Tivoli Turtle Vernon Wilmington
Creeks andstreams	Alligator (Little Ocmulgee River) Big Satilla Brasstown Ebenezer Euchee Ichawaynochaway Kettle Kinchafoonee Little Satilla Muckalee Noonday Okapilco Peachtree Rocky Comfort Spring (Flint River) Suwannoochee Sweetwater (Chattahoochee River) Tobesofkee Toccoa Walnut (South River) Walnut (Ocmulgee River) Williamson Swamp
Canals	Augusta Canal Brunswick–Altamaha Canal Savannah–Ogeechee Canal Suwannee Canal
See also	Grand Bay Intracoastal Waterway Okefenokee Swamp List of Georgia rivers

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	United States Israel
Other	NARA Yale LUX