Laura S. Walker State Park: Big Creek and Lake Trails (Blog Hike #927)

Trails: Big Creek and Lake Trails
Hike Location: Laura S. Walker State Park
Geographic Location: southeast of Waycross, GA (31.14360, -82.21399)
Length: 3.2 miles
Difficulty: 3/10 (Easy/Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2023
Overview: A semiloop featuring 2 boardwalks, one along a creek and one over a lake.
Park Information: https://gastateparks.org/LauraSWalker
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: From Waycross, take US 82 east 8.5 miles to SR 177 and turn right on SR 177.  Drive SR 177 south 2.1 miles to the park entrance on the right.  Turn right to enter the park, pay the entrance fee, and park in the small parking lot in front of the Visitor Center.

The hike: Though nothing you see in this park today would indicate such, Georgia's Laura S. Walker State Park actually began its life as Laura S. Walker National Park.  The national park was created by a proclamation from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and in 1937 distressed farmland was purchased to form the park.  The depression-era Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the park's roads, trails, and buildings, and in 1941 it was deeded to the State of Georgia as Georgia's 13th state park.  The park is named for Laura Singleton Walker, a local writer and naturalist.

            Today the park presents itself as a beautiful mature park with fantastic amenities.  On point, the park offers a nice 42-site developed campground, a championship 18 hole golf course, 6 cottages, 7 picnic shelters, a small but scenic lake, and 4 miles of hiking trails.  The hike described here links the park's two most scenic areas, Big Creek and Laura S. Walker Lake, while passing through some classic longleaf pine forest.  Thus, this hike explores the best scenery this park has to offer.

Big Creek Trail trailhead

            From the Visitor Center, walk back out the park entrance road to SR 177; the Big Creek Trail enters the woods across the state road.  The traffic on the state highway moves fast, so be alert and cross briskly.  Almost immediately you reach a wooden information kiosk with trails going three directions.  Continue straight to begin following the red plastic diamond markers for the Big Creek Trail.

            Ignore side trails marked in blue and yellow, and stay right where the red-blazed trail forks.  This part of the hike passes through beautiful longleaf pines, and I saw numerous birds including goldfinches in this area.  Occasional interpretive signs help you identify common plants in the forest, the most numerous of which are saw palmettos.

Hiking under longleaf pines

            At 0.4 miles, the trail curves right to descend slightly and reach the area beside Big Creek.  A nice boardwalk keeps your feet dry while hiking through this wet and muddy area.  Big Creek is the main outlet for the dam that forms Laura S. Walker Lake, and in places the flowing black water seems to flow through a constructed channel.  A bench at the end of the boardwalk overlooks the creek and provides a nice place to rest and observe the area.

Big Creek boardwalk

            After the boardwalk ends, the trail undulates before passing through a small depression.  Next you pass a primitive campsite and a dirt parking area as you begin paralleling SR 177, which can be heard through the trees to the left.  At 1.2 miles, you return to the information kiosk near the trailhead.  If you are getting tired or running out of daylight, you can turn left and retrace your steps to the Visitor Center now.  To see more of the park, turn right to begin heading the same way you did before, but this time take the left fork when the red-blazed trail forks.

Big fork in Big Creek Trail

            The trail follows an old forest road to reach the northern park boundary and another trail intersection at 1.4 miles.  Confoundingly, all 3 trails that converge at this intersection are marked with red plastic diamonds.  If the park used a wider variety of markers to designate trails, navigating this trail system would be easier.  To continue this hike, turn left to begin hiking west along the north park boundary.

            The arrow-straight trail passes through more longleaf pine forest to reach another trail intersection at 1.65 miles.  The red diamonds head left to return to the information kiosk yet again, but you want to continue straight to begin following the green plastic diamonds that mark the Lake Trail.  The Lake Trail crosses SR 177 before splitting at a metal gate with chain-link fencing.  Angle right to head for Laura S. Walker Lake.

Lake Trail splits at chain-link gate

            The Lake Trail meanders as it descends gradually.  A few wet areas will need to be negotiated if it has rained recently, and I was glad I had worn my waterproof boots for this segment of the hike.  At 2.2 miles, you reach the highlight of this hike: the long wooden boardwalk over Laura S. Walker Lake.  The sandy soil filters the lake's water to make it exceptionally clear, and some Spanish moss-draped cypress trees along the shore add to the scenery.  Several benches invite you to rest and observe the lake.

Laura S. Walker Lake

            The Lake Trail continues through the park's cottage area along the south shore of the lake, but it does not form a loop.  Thus, you need to turn around, retrace your steps to the metal gate with chain-link fencing, and then turn right to begin the last leg of the Lake Trail.  After tracing around a park maintenance area, you come out at the park's group camp area.  Turn left twice to walk the park road back to the Visitor Center and complete the hike.

Cumberland Island National Seashore: Sea Camp/Dungeness/Beach Loop (Blog Hike #926; Georgia Hike #100)

Trails: River, Dungeness, Marsh Boardwalk, Dunes Boardwalk, and Sea Camp Trails
Hike Location: Cumberland Island National Seashore
Geographic Location: off the coast of St. Marys, GA (30.76419, -81.47101)
Length: 4.4 miles
Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)
Date Hiked: February 2023
Overview: A loop hike featuring the Dungeness ruins and a long beach walk.
Park Information: https://www.nps.gov/cuis/index.htm
Hike Route Map:

On The Go Map

Photo Highlight:

Hike Video: 

Directions to the trailhead: Cumberland Island is accessible only by boat.  A ferry shuttles visitors from St. Marys to the island; reservations and prepayment are recommended.  This hike begins at the Sea Camp dock, which is the ferry's second and final stop on the island.

The hike: I bought my first published guide to Georgia hiking in 2005 shortly after I moved from Ohio to Georgia.  That guide detailed the fantastic hiking available on Cumberland Island, the largest island off the coast of southeast Georgia, and I immediately added the island to my list of intended Georgia hiking destinations.  Cumberland Island is accessible only by boat, and years went by before the ferry's schedule lined up with my travel schedule at a time of the year conducive to hiking.  Finally, on a Thursday morning in early February 2023, I boarded the ferry to take the boat ride I had been awaiting for more than 17 years.

            Established in 1972, Cumberland Island National Seashore protects most of its namesake island except for a few inholdings of privately owned land.  The boat-only access limits the number of visitors, so this park does not suffer from overcrowding like many National Park Service sites.  Yet the natural scenery and human history preserved by this park are second to none in the southeast.

            Human habitation of Cumberland Island dates back nearly 4000 years, and evidence shows that the ancient Timucuan people lived here.  Spanish missionaries arrived in the 1600's.  The English arrived in 1733 and named the island for Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland, son of King George II.  Plantation life dominated the island in the 1700's and 1800's, and in 1884 Thomas Carnegie built a mansion called Dungeness as a winter retreat.  Dungeness burned in 1959, but the Carnegie's family cemetery still sits near the mansion's ruins on the island.

            In addition to the human history, Cumberland Island National Seashore offers primitive camping, one of the longest undeveloped beaches on the east coast, and an almost endless system of hiking and biking trails.  Due to the boat dock's location, the south end of the island is the easiest area to explore on a day trip.  The route described here is one recommended by the National Park Service, and it provides a nice loop on fairly easy trails.  This hike visits the Dungeness ruins, the marsh, and some other historic buildings, and it offers a long hike on the undeveloped beach, thus sampling everything the island has to offer.

Start of River Trail

            After stepping off the ferry at the Sea Camp dock, look to the right for the start of the River Trail; it is marked by a simple wooden sign and a red carsonite stake.  The dirt River Trail heads south through dense forest dominated by live oaks with a thick draping of Spanish moss.  A dense covering of palmettos populates the understory.  Cumberland Sound, which you floated in on, sits just to the right although it stays out of sight most of the time.

Hiking the River Trail

            At 0.7 miles, you reach the Ice House Museum and the Dungeness dock, which was the ferry's first stop on the island.  The Ice House and its cluster of buildings date to the 1890-1900 period, and today some of the buildings are used as park administrative buildings.  Restrooms and drinking water are also available here.

Ice House Museum

            To continue, pick up the two-track dirt road that heads away from the dock, and then turn right at the next road intersection to reach the Dungeness ruins.  Two mansions named Dungeness stood here, one built in 1803 by Catharine Greene, widow of Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene, and another built by Thomas Carnegie in 1884.  The ruins of the 1884 mansion are the ones you see here today.  Notice all of the nearby support buildings and the elaborate south entrance to the mansion, and imagine how grand this place would have been in the early 1900's.

Entrance gate at Dungeness

Dungeness ruins

            After admiring the mansion ruins, turn left to head east on a two-track dirt road that passes some of the support buildings.  An elaborate building called The Grange, the foundation of a water tower, and the foundation of the dairy barn are among the buildings and ruins passed.  After exiting the mansion area, turn right at a signed trail for the marsh.  Quickly you arrive at the wooden boardwalk that overlooks the Beach Creek salt marsh.  I saw many birds here including an egret, and I also saw some of Cumberland Island's famous wild horses.

Wild horses at marsh

Beach Creek salt marsh

            After crossing the marsh boardwalk, you walk through an area of soft white sand to return to the two-track dirt road.  Turn right on the dirt road, then turn right again to begin the Interdune Boardwalk.  True to its name, the Interdune Boardwalk takes you among the towering white sand dunes that line this island's eastern side.  Walking on the boardwalk is much easier than walking in the soft sand.

Dunes beside Interdune Boardwalk

            At 2.4 miles, you reach this hike's most shining moment, the moment you exit the dunes and walk onto the beach.  This beach is truly spectacular: the sand is sugar-white, and no development can be seen in either direction.  Before you get lost in the sandy and oceany wonder, note the black and white striped pole where the trail intersects the beach: you will have to find a similar pole at the other end of this beach hike.

Walking out onto the beach

Looking north up the beach

            Turn left to begin walking north along the beach.  Sea gulls and dead jellyfish were the most common organic things on this beach.  Due to the island's boat-only access and the fact that all of the docks are on the island's west side, I only saw 5 or 6 other people on the beach the entire time I was here.  Take your time and enjoy this spectacular area.

Exiting the beach

            At 3.7 miles, you reach the trail that leads back to Sea Camp dock; look for the black and white striped pole.  After a brief period of hiking through sand, you reach a wooden boardwalk that again mercifully carries you over the majority of the soft sand.  3.9 miles into the hike, you reach Sea Camp, a very nice primitive campground.  Walk through the campground and pick up the sandy dirt road, which returns you to the dock at 4.4 miles.  Enjoy the ferry ride back to St. Marys having experienced one of the best historical and natural sites in Georgia.