Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

The Okefenokee is one of the largest intact freshwater systems in North America, covering roughly 700 square miles of peat-based swamp on the Georgia-Florida border. Named from a Native American word meaning land of trembling earth, the refuge hosts American alligators in some of the highest densities found anywhere, along with sandhill cranes, wood storks, and carnivorous pitcher plants. Canoe trails wind through open prairies of lily pads and through tunnel-like corridors of cypress hung with Spanish moss.