I’ve driven down this majestic canopy road many times, and having explored much of Tattnall County, would suggest that it is perhaps its most scenic route. I haven’t been out this way in a while and hope it wasn’t damaged when Hurricane Helene passed through the area.
The lower Atlamaha River is home to numerous Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), and Long County is no exception, with Townsend, Morgan Lake, and Griffin Ridge. I spent a couple of days exploring the snowy landscape at Griffin Ridge, which I think is one of the most amazing hidden gems in the area.
Griffin Ridge is characterized by Atlantic coastal plain floodplain forests, oak hammocks, and river dunes. Scrubby would be a good word to describe it, especially the uplands. Palmettos are the dominant shrub of the under story and are often so thick as to be impenetrable.
The early settlers of Southeast Georgia, and specifically the Wiregrass Region, forged a living out of this wild landscape, and Griffin Ridge has always been wild. Within its boundaries today are landmarks once known (and sometimes still known) as Fountain Hole, Back Swamp, Griffin Lake, and Patterson Swamp.
This place is beautiful year round, especially if you grew up in Southern woods and wetlands like I did, but the snow transformed it into something otherworldly. As of this writing, much of the snow in town has melted, but there are still quite a few patches glowing through the trees at Griffin Ridge.
Lichen is abundant here but most was hidden by the snow.
Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), also known as Black Gum and Sour Gum, and Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) can be found in natural ponds and wet spots throughout Griffin Ridge.
As flat as this part of the world is, some might be surprised by the hilly terrain. The flow of the mighty Altamaha cuts into the surrounding earth and creates changes in the elevation. The very name of this place is an acknowledgement of the topography.
I’ve always liked this oak, which sits downhill from the road near the entrance.
This small creek near the eastern entrance was almost completely frozen. I didn’t test it to find out.
The bridge in the western section of Griffin Ridge is perhaps the property’s most recognizable man-made landmark. It crosses a particularly large wetland area that is usually not very inviting to anyone not wearing waders.
This cypress pond was transformed by a thin sheet of ice, and many of the trees were surrounded by a collar of snow.
Just uphill from the pond was an apiary. It’s near an off-limits hunting cabin that is also a Griffin Ridge landmark.
Since most of my visits are photography related, I usually avoid this WMA during deer season, and archery is all that’s still open. Nonetheless, I was surprised to encounter someone on Saturday. He was a hunter but on this trip was just admiring the snow with his grandchildren.
Most of the boundaries of Griffin Ridge are clearly marked, and some roads are open only to foot traffic. It’s easy to wander off course if you aren’t paying attention.
No one had been down this road on foot or by vehicle, and it was particularly nice.
On my drive out of the western section, I stopped at the bridge and wandered around the low wetlands that are normally too muddy to navigate.
I’ve photographed this tree, another favorite, many times, but it has never looked better than it did in the snow. I usually just shoot it from the bridge.
I took over 600 photographs during my two “snow trips” last week, so this is but a small representation of what I saw. I hope some of you will have the opportunity to visit on your own.
These cypress knees may have been my favorites.
I made this photograph in the Garden Valley area in 2009.
Take a detour off the Bowman Highway at Dewy Rose and you’ll pass down a gravel-topped road named for the historic community of Hard Cash. While the story of the community is hard to track down, the drive will pass by a couple of historic homes and leftover farm buildings related to this enigmatic place. It’s a short drive but a nice break from the highway.
Richard B. Russell Lake, called Lake Russell by locals, has the most natural appearance of the three large lakes impounded by the Army Corps of Engineers on the Savannah River along the Georgia-South Carolina border. While all the lakes serve the dual purpose of flood control and hydropower creation, Richard B. Russell has restrictive covenants that prevent the construction of homes along its shoreline, unlike Lake Hartwell to the north and Lake Strom Thurmond to the south. As a result, it is a more pristine environment and an unusual recreational location in Georgia.
Originally conceived as Trotters Shoals Lake in 1966, it was authorized by the Flood Control Act. The name was later changed to memorialize the recently deceased U. S. Senator Richard B. Russell. Historic sites ranging in time from the last Ice Age to the time of the lake’s construction were inundated during the filling process, and about 68 of the 600 identified sites were documented. This work has been covered in two books, Beneath These Waters, Archeological and Historical Studies of 11,500 Years Along the Savannah River and In Those Days: African-American Life Near the Savannah River.
The lake is approximately 26,650 acres in size and levels do not fluctuate more than five feet in optimum conditions. The average maximum depth is approximately 167 feet. This is another distinction from neighboring Lake Hartwell and Lake Strom Thurmond.
As the Upson County government website notes: Sprewell Bluff Park is one of Georgia’s best kept secrets and is known by locals as the hidden gem.
Historically, this natural feature of the Flint River was important to the Creek Indians. When they were forced to cede all their lands between the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers to the United States in 1825, it was opened to settlement.
It was named for Jeptha Simeon Spruiell (1784-1873), a native of Abbeville County, South Carolina, who came to Georgia’s western frontier sometime before 1850, in what was then part of Talbot County. Spruiell was a successful farmer who understood the economic potential of the bluff area, which was a busy crossing on the Old Alabama Road.
Straddling the Fall Line and providing a mountain-like environment in west central Georgia, Sprewell Bluff is one of the most interesting natural areas in the Piedmont region. The Flint River here is quite different than at its southern extremes in Georgia, characterized by rocky shoals and sheer rock walls along its banks.
Located about 10 miles west of Thomaston [take Georgia Highway 74 to Old Alabama Road, then turn onto Sprewell Bluff Road], the site has been as popular a landmark in the modern era as it was to the indigenous people who lived here for centuries before White settlers arrived.
As Atlanta’s population exploded in the early 1970s, the Army Corps of Engineers sought to build a dam at Sprewell Bluff, but thanks to strong local opposition and the personal intervention of Governor Jimmy Carter, the proposal was officially tabled in 1974.
Georgia Power has owned the site for many years and in the early 1990s leased it to the state of Georgia as a day-use state park. This arrangement didn’t prove too popular as there were no employees on-site full time, and beginning in 2013, Upson County assumed responsibility for managing the property. A trading post is located on Sprewell Bluff Road, and is the check-in point for the park. An amazing overlook deck is located there. Sprewell Bluff Park is a truly magical place for fishermen [especially with its population of Shoal Bass], paddlers, swimmers, hikers, campers, or anyone wanting to take in the awesome landscape.
Consider taking a ride on some country roads if you need to get away. I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but there’s no better therapy for clearing your head. I think the vastness of the countryside overwhelms a lot of city folk, but I know they appreciate it when they take the time to see the state this way.
This particular road turns into dirt as it crosses Cowpen Branch, just past the historic Corinth Church. People have lived in this part of Effingham County for over 200 years and I imagine the first white settlers were as taken with the beauty of the place just as I am today.
Griffin Ridge Wildlife Management Area (WMA), located between Jesup and Ludowici, includes vibrant examples of Atlantic coastal plain floodplain forests, oak hammocks, and river dunes. It encompasses areas historically known as Fountain Branch (Fountain Hole), Back Swamp, Griffin Lake, and Patterson Swamp. These are part of the larger Altamaha River floodplain.
The site is open to everyone, but you’ll need a lands pass or hunting/fishing license from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) if you visit. If your interest is the natural environment, it’s best to avoid any WMA during hunting season, but that leaves a lot of time to wander the trails the rest of the year. A four-wheel drive vehicle is advisable and bug spray is a necessity.
A nature trail is located here and one of the highlights is the lupine, which usually blooms in April. DNR does a good job of keeping the sandy roads and trails cleared, and signs identifying various plants and wildlife can be found throughout the property.
Palmetto thickets are dominant in much of this xeric environment.
Primitive campsites with minimal amenities can be secured through the DNR if you want to spend the night.
A wooden bridge built by the DNR is a notable feature in the western section of the WMA, which can be accessed near the Tin Man on US 341. This area is closer to the Altamaha and generally lower and swampier than the eastern section.
Native plants are also common in this area of the WMA.
In my drive back to Coastal Georgia from Monroe County, a stop in James was at the top of my list. I immediately became enamored of the place, but it was when we took a walk with Aubrey Newby down this abandoned rail bed that I understood the appeal of the place. Sure, I was there to see the houses, but this charming path through the woods drew me in and made James seem like a wonderland to me. Aubrey Newby recalls: When I was a kid the train still ran through the the middle of “town” and I would run down the big side porch on the end of the Duffy-Newby house and wave to the conductor who would blow the engine whistle for me.
I’m not sure which railroad used the long-gone tracks, but I know that L. P. James was involved with the Georgia Railroad. Whatever corporations followed it would have used this route, into the late 1980s or early 1990s, I imagine.
Georgia Highway 60, also known as the Morganton Highway, winds its way through some of the most beautiful countryside in the state, passing places like Wilscot and Suches, much of it in the Chattahoochee National Forest, before it connects with US 19 and runs into Dahlonega. There are some high spots along the highway, and some beautiful valleys like this one near Morganton. I think it’s one of the most scenic drives in the state.