Hike Location: Stephen C. Foster State Park
Geographic Location: southeast of Homerville, GA (30.82643, -82.36186)
Length: 1.1 miles
Difficulty: 0/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: December 2018
Overview: A short boardwalk through cypress and black gum
forest.
Park Information: https://gastateparks.org/StephenCFoster
Directions to the trailhead: From Fargo, GA, take SR
177 north 17 miles to the road’s end at the state park office and trading
post. Park in the blacktop lot near the
park office.
The hike: For my
general comments on the Okefenokee Swamp, see the previous hike. This hike features
Okefenokee’s west portal, which lies in Stephen C. Foster State Park. Stephen C. Foster State Park is named for the
American songwriter who wrote such famous songs as “Oh Susanna,” “My Old
Kentucky Home,” and “Camptown Races.”
Interestingly, Foster himself seems to have had no connection to this
area other than the famous song he wrote about the Suwanee River, which
originates in the Okefenokee Swamp and flows just west of this park. That song, officially titled “Old Folks at
Home,” is the official state song of Florida.
The park is most famous as a
canoeing and astronomy destination. In
fact, Stephen C. Foster State Park has been recognized by the International
Dark Sky Association as a “Dark Sky Park,” and it is the only park in Georgia
to earn this designation. Come here
during a new moon in the summer for the best viewing of the Milky Way galaxy. In terms of hiking, the park features a
boardwalk and a natural-surface loop trail through piney woods, but on my visit
the natural-surface trail was underwater due to recent heavy rain. Thus, I hiked the park’s only passable trail,
the short boardwalk trail.
 |
| Trailhead near park office |
The
trailhead is marked by a brown sign saying “Trembling Earth Nature Trail” that
is located on the concrete sidewalk north of the park office. As an aside, if you picture a swamp outpost
complete with mosquito netting around all of its doors and windows and a
plethora of boats outside docked in shallow water, you will have the park
office pictured perfectly. The name
Okefenokee is an Hitchiti-Mikasuki word that is often translated “land of
trembling earth,” a reference to the instability of the swamp’s peat
floor. In fact, a more accurate
translation is probably “bubbling water.”
Soon after
the wooden boardwalk begins, the boardwalk forks. We will eventually angle right to continue
the loop, but for now turn left to hike the boardwalk’s main spur. The boardwalk spur heads west through black
gum and cypress forest that remains underwater for much of the year. Some gaps in the trees allow you to look for
wildlife. Although the park brochure
mentions 223 species of birds and other creatures found in the park, things
were very still on the afternoon I walked this boardwalk. I saw more alligators and deer near the park
office than I did on the trail.
 |
| Hiking the boardwalk spur |
The
boardwalk spur used to extend 2100 feet into the swamp, but the western-most third
of the boardwalk was destroyed by a wildfire a few years ago. Construction materials were in place to
rebuild the boardwalk on my visit, but right now it ends unceremoniously in the
middle of the wetland. Turn around and
retrace your steps to the boardwalk fork, then turn left to continue the loop.
 |
| View over more open water |
Back on the
loop, the boardwalk curves to the right as it stays in a relatively wet
area. Interpretive signs help you
identify common trees in the swamp, and some numbered markers suggest the
existence of an interpretive guide even though none were available at the park
office. Shortly after passing a wooden pavilion
with benches, you close the loop. Walk
the concrete trail around the boat basin to return to the park office and
complete the hike.
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