Lower Coastal Plain
Georgia’s Lower Coastal Plain contains one of the state’s most well-known geographic features, the Okefenokee Swamp, which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2026. The Lower Coastal Plain is generally low and flat, and the uplands of this area are covered in vast planted pine forests and agricultural areas. The terrain of the Lower Coastal Plain is dominated by the major river systems: the Ogeechee and Altamaha to the north, and the Satilla and St. Marys in the south.
Vast forests of planted and natural Longleaf, Loblolly, and Slash Pine, well-maintained by natural and prescribed fire, provide year-round residence to species like the Brown-headed Nuthatch, Bachman’s Sparrow, Northern Bobwhite, and Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Sites such as Moody Forest Natural Area and Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge host healthy populations of these upland, fire-dependent birds. In the bottomland hardwood forests along the four major river systems, you may find nesting Prothonotary Warbler, Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites, Barred Owl, and Swainson’s Warbler. The upland pine and oak scrub forests provide a large extent of habitat and also provide valuable stopover habitat for neotropical migratory songbirds.
As North America’s largest blackwater swamp, the Okefenokee Swamp covers more than 700 square miles (448,000 acres) and straddles the Georgia-Florida line. “Land of the trembling earth” refers to the traditional translation of the Native American Muscogee Creek word Okefenokee. The ground in parts of the swamp consist of buoyant, floating mats of peat (soft, spongy organic material) that shake and quiver when walked upon. Also in the Okefenokee Swamp, you may find sedge prairies, bald cypress swamps, sand islands, and blackwater lakes. The swamp acts as a natural water filter, carbon storage, flood control, and most importantly: the swamp and the surrounding uplands are home to more than 1,000 species of plants and animals, including rare and endangered wildlife, such as the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Other wildlife you may find in and around this area includes the Eastern Indigo Snake, Gopher Tortoise, and thousands of American Alligators! Mammals include Gray and Red Foxes, as well as Black Bear, skunks, river otter, opossums, raccoons, deer and bobcats. The Okefenokee Swamp is the headwaters of both the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers, draining slowly to the south and west, bordered to the east by the geographic feature of Trail Ridge.
Stargazing is especially popular at Okefenokee State Park each winter. Overnight explorations into the swamp will have you serenaded by the bellowing call of the American Alligator in late spring or the onomatopoeia of the Chuck-will’s-widow in summer.
