Okefenokee Swamp Park — Attraction in Waycross

This review is more for the park mgr or owner than the general public. If you don’t read any further than this, the staff at this park is what made our day enjoyable. Every single person we interacted with was absolutely lovely and caring and you could tell they enjoyed their jobs.

Been wanting to come here for years but it’s a bit of a drive so it took til today to get out there. I was a bit disappointed when I first got there. On the surface, it appears there’s not a whole lot to see.

It has the makings and potential of a really cool place - it could just have so much more going for it and it appears maybe whoever owns it or is in charge is just tired and just doesn’t have the interest anymore.

I don’t mean that to sound abrasive but it just bugs me that there’s potential for so many more simple attractions weather it be a decorative fish pond or a botanical flower garden or a (pay to) fishing pond or perhaps a bird sanctuary or a place you could (pay to) feed the alligators.

The grounds are beautifully kept but there’s no real breathtaking focal points. It’s like you are just wandering around trying to find something interesting to look at. The buildings are an interesting design but exhibits are dated and stale. If I owned that place, I’d make the honey market an actual store with a bee exhibit viewable from the large picture window. I’d put a bar there with either beer or just old fashion southern drinks such as lemonade and sweet tea and decorate the place and make it bee themed and make a whole gift shop with bee related things. Candles, honey, art, random nature’ish souvenirs like carved bowls made of wood, hand made things, you know, useful stuff, not just tee shirts.

There’s a whole area for petting zoo type animals but all they have is a few chickens and pigs. Why not have some goats we could pay 5 bucks to feed or mini horses or cows. That would bring in a decent revenue stream. We would have dropped 20 bucks to feed a cute crazy goat.

The boat tour was as nice as it could be and the guide was wonderful. No complaints there.

The train tour was lovely as well and the conductor took us on a special tour of the pioneer island since we were the only family aboard the trolly.

The wildlife show was probably the most captivating part of the day for me and I’m not even particularly interested in reptiles. The lady that hosted the show radiated love for those animals and gave us all much more of an extensive knowledge of turtles and tortoises than we ever thought we would have.

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This will not take all day, but you could. Min. 3 hours. Entry 2 senior adults, 2 young children $84. Strongly advise insect repellent.

The walking trails were under water on our trip. The no trespassing signs on these trails looked weathered, so this has been this way for some time.

Florida can get hot. Several nicely cooled exhibit areas and plenty of shade throughout. Basic water fountains.

Visited 05/21 just as Covid winding down. They have some work to do to bring the park back up to being worth the price. All food and beverage shops closed. Amphitheater closed. The shining exception was the exceptional reptile hall exhibit presentation where children are allowed to touch reptiles with a bonus baby goat.

Don't miss the boardwalk just inside park to see the big gators.

If you must choose between train and boat due to time, take the boat. (The train route would have been a great place to see some carnivorous plants that grow wild around the park.) The last 4:30 train drops you at the opposite end of the parking lot in a hands on frontier village, so finish everything inside including gift shop before taking it. This last train will not take you back into the park. Since we were not done inside, it was a VERY long hike forcing us to skip the entire frontier village to see the alligators before the entrance closed.

Picnic areas available in and around entrance.

This is a place worth visiting! We have been here before. I think somewhere along the line, Florida has lost sight of what is so fascinating about the flora and fauna of this unique area. And the Okefenokee Swamp is huge. Yet, no maps of the entire swamp, no discussion of water flow, rivers, or how humans have settled and worked thus altering the swamp ecology. Not the cabins and old tools but modern day ingress and usage of the swamp. Or how the huge wildfires have affected the area? How drought and lightning can cause millenia old peat to burn for months. What do the "Islands" look like? Are people able to move around in the swamp? Is the swamp a river of grass like the Everglades? Maybe a drone video movie would do it. Carnivorous pitcher plants? Fly traps? I saw them growing wild on the way in, nothing in the park. How are invasive plants affecting the park? How about doing actual pine sap harvesting? I just think it's missing so many of the things the local decision makers take for granted as every day that outsiders would find...

Since we started our YouTube channel, Cold Blood Creations, we are always on the lookout for cool reptile related entertainment here in our home state of Georgia. We love to teach about these amazing animals on our channel and often look for other places where reptiles are the star attraction. Since we are native Georgians, we try to promote our state as well. And we came across a suggestion to give this park a go. The staff at this place were all top notch. The lady at the booth where you paid was great with a sense of humor when I asked her about the alligator rides and rattlesnake petting zoo. Lol! The gift shop employees were good too. The train was good and very relaxing. Then there was the pinball machine. Actually, it is called a boat tour, but we were bouncing off of trees and stumps like a pinball in an arcade. But we didn't mind because the young lady Taylor that was driving said pinball boat was a hoot, and we all had a great time. New to driving those boats, she was very apologetic each time we banged into something which made the trip even more fun, funny, and quiet entertaining. (Don't worry Taylor, I been driving boats for 40 years and I still bump a tree or stump every now and again!) This boat tour was hands down our groups favorite, and her likable clumsiness and fun nature were the reason for it. The park was clean, the staff was great. We enjoyed this place and hope to one day feature it in one of our own videos.

Might even give this another go...