Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge
Blackwater trails, peat islands, cypress forest, prairies, alligators, cranes, pitcher plants, and dark-sky camps make one of North America’s great wetlands legible.
United States: places and wildlife — page 58
Browse the published Explore collection for United States. Open a discovery for its field guide, practical details, and background.
Cumberland Island National Seashore
Undeveloped beaches, maritime forest, marsh, Dungeness ruins, Plum Orchard, wildlife, and layered Indigenous, African American, and estate histories fill Georgia’s largest barrier island.
Brasstown Bald
An observation tower, museum, steep paved path, shuttle, and expansive views from 4,784 feet expose Blue Ridge ridges, watersheds, weather, and cultural geography.
Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area
Bare monadnocks, seasonal solution pools, red diamorpha, quarry remains, PATH trails, Flat Rock, Vaughters’ Farm, and Panola Mountain form a cultural and ecological mosaic east of Atlanta.
Atlanta Botanical Garden
A canopy walk, Fuqua Conservatory, orchid center, edible garden, woodland, children’s garden, and changing installations make plant form visible from multiple heights and climates.
State Botanical Garden of Georgia
Native flora, themed gardens, conservatory collections, trails, pollinator work, and university research occupy more than 300 acres along the Middle Oconee River.
Gibbs Gardens
Japanese garden, daffodil fields, waterlilies, hydrangeas, woodland paths, ponds, and manor-house landscape spread across hundreds of rolling acres.
Callaway Resort & Gardens
Azalea Bowl, butterfly center, lakes, trails, chapel, beaches, golf, and seasonal events spread across a very large Pine Mountain landscape.
Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens
Camellias, bamboo, palms, heritage plants, Mediterranean and rose gardens, orchards, and an historic bamboo farm reveal what thrives in humid coastal Georgia.
Georgia Aquarium
Whale sharks, manta rays, belugas, sea lions, sharks, penguins, freshwater species, and major habitat systems occupy one of the world’s largest aquariums.
Zoo Atlanta
African elephants, great apes, reptiles, pandas, birds, and conservation programs fill a compact Grant Park campus with historic roots and modern habitats.
Georgia Sea Turtle Center
Rehabilitation tanks, treatment windows, interactive exhibits, field research, nest monitoring, and released-patient stories connect individual turtles to coastal systems.
Amicalola Falls State Park
Stair routes, accessible overlooks, mountain forest, lodge views, and the strenuous Approach Trail connect a major waterfall to Springer Mountain and long-distance hiking culture.
Cloudland Canyon State Park
Rim overlooks, long stair descents to Cherokee and Hemlock Falls, Sitton Gulch, sandstone cliffs, caves, and backcountry trails create very different visits.
Tallulah Gorge State Park
Rim trails, suspension bridge, staircases, five falls, hydroelectric history, and permit-only gorge floor expose geology and managed river flow.
Providence Canyon State Park
Eroded canyons, multicolored sediments, forest regrowth, rim views, and canyon-floor trails reveal severe nineteenth-century agricultural erosion rather than an ancient western gorge.
Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area
Multiple river units offer shoals, forest paths, historic mill traces, paddling, fishing, and wildlife along 48 miles of the Chattahoochee.
Appalachian Trail — Georgia
Springer Mountain, Blood Mountain, gaps, shelters, rhododendron tunnels, and repeated climbs form the southern end of the Appalachian Trail.
Sweetwater Creek State Park
Creek rapids, forest trails, the burned New Manchester mill, reservoir paddling, and Civil War history create a rugged landscape close to the city.
Fort Mountain State Park
Summit trails, CCC fire tower, unexplained stone wall, overlooks, lake, forest, and mountain-bike routes spread across the western Blue Ridge edge.
Black Rock Mountain State Park
Roadside overlooks, Tennessee Rock Trail, forest, lake, cabins, and steep access roads occupy Georgia’s highest state park.
Vogel State Park
Lake Trahlyta, waterfall trail, CCC structures, Blood Mountain access, cabins, and forest loops make one of Georgia’s oldest state parks both approachable and demanding.
Jekyll Island Historic District & Trails
More than 20 miles of paths link maritime forest, marsh, beaches, the historic club district, Horton House, and modern conservation facilities.
Pigeon Mountain Salamander
A large woodland salamander occupies moist cracks, caves, and talus on Pigeon Mountain in Georgia’s northwest corner.
Altamaha Spinymussel
A large freshwater mussel with one to several shell spines survives only in the Altamaha River basin.
Cherokee Darter
A small olive-and-black fish with breeding color lives in clear Etowah River tributaries above the Fall Line.
Etowah Darter
A slender darter with vivid blue-green and orange breeding color occurs only in the upper Etowah River system.
Ocmulgee Skullcap
A perennial mint with blue-violet flowers grows on shaded, mature hardwood slopes and bluffs in central Georgia.
Hairy Rattleweed
A federally endangered perennial with dense cobwebby hairs and yellow flowers survives in open longleaf-pine flatwoods in two Georgia counties.
Georgia Plume
A tall shrub or small tree bears upright clusters of four-petaled white flowers on sandy ridges and sandstone outcrops.
Franklin Tree
A small tree with white camellia-like flowers and red autumn foliage was known in the wild only along Georgia’s Altamaha River.
South Carolina State Museum
Art, cultural history, natural history, science, a planetarium, and an observatory occupy the vast former Columbia Mills building beside the Congaree River.
Columbia Museum of Art
European painting, Asian art, decorative arts, modern work, and changing exhibitions meet in compact galleries opening onto Boyd Plaza.
International African American Museum
Nine galleries, a family-history center, and the African Ancestors Memorial Garden interpret African origins, Atlantic crossings, slavery, resistance, Gullah Geechee culture, and worldwide influence.
The Charleston Museum
Natural-history specimens, textiles, silver, weaponry, archaeological material, and Lowcountry objects trace Charleston from Indigenous homelands through slavery, war, commerce, and tourism.
Gibbes Museum of Art
Portrait miniatures, Charleston Renaissance work, modern Southern art, and changing exhibitions occupy a Beaux-Arts building with studios visible to visitors.
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
USS Yorktown, USS Laffey, aircraft, flight and engine spaces, a Vietnam support-base exhibit, and the Medal of Honor Museum make naval scale physically legible.
H. L. Hunley Museum
The recovered Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley rests in a conservation tank while artifacts, facial reconstructions, and research explain its 1864 attack and the deaths of all three crews.
Greenville County Museum of Art
American art with particular strength in Southern work includes an important Andrew Wyeth collection, Jasper Johns, and a substantial group by South Carolina-born William H. Johnson.
Upcountry History Museum
Permanent and changing galleries connect Cherokee homelands, settlement, slavery, textile mills, civil rights, military service, and the region’s transformation into an international manufacturing center.
Florence County Museum
Regional art, archaeology, Pee Dee history, and the Wright Collection of Southern Art frame Florence-born William H. Johnson within a broader material landscape.
Coastal Discovery Museum
Honey Horn’s 68 acres hold live oaks, salt-marsh views, historic structures, gardens, horses, and exhibits on Lowcountry ecology and culture.
Cecil Williams South Carolina Civil Rights Museum
Cecil Williams’s photographs, cameras, publications, and firsthand interpretation document school desegregation, the Orangeburg movement, the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre, and organizing across South Carolina.
BMW Zentrum
Historic vehicles, concept cars, motorcycles, production displays, and current models introduce the enormous Spartanburg plant that builds BMW sport-activity vehicles for world markets.
South Carolina Railroad Museum
Historic rolling stock, restoration shops, signals, and seasonal excursions preserve the material history of railroading in South Carolina.
Fort Sumter National Historical Park
A ferry crosses Charleston Harbor to the brick fort where Confederate artillery opened the Civil War in April 1861; ruins, batteries, flags, and exhibits interpret the conflict and later coastal defense.
Fort Moultrie
Reconstructed palmetto-log defenses, brick bastions, disappearing guns, World War II control rooms, and harbor views compress military change from 1776 to 1947.
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
Snee Farm grounds, archaeology, exhibits, and a later house interpret Constitution signer Charles Pinckney alongside the enslaved people whose labor sustained the plantation.