Okefenokee Swamp | Georgia Outdoors

On this episode of Georgia Outdoors; humans have inhabited the great Okefenokee Swamp for thousands of years. First settled by the Native Americans and later by Americans, the swamp has yet to be tamed by mankind. Rich with history and immense beauty, the Okefenokee Swamp is a landmark of Georgia’s wildlife and certainly a unique place on this earth.
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[@2msvalkyrie529]

Stunning ! I often think Americans don't appreciate the beauty and variety of their great country . ? You have everything from deserts to snowy mountains and huge forests . And what History. .! From a friend in 🇬🇧 ! 👍 !

[@dabprod]

Ahhhhh.....Brings back great memories for an old man. The Suwannee River near Fargo GA on the west side of the swamp. I paddled an Old Town wood/canvas canoe from there all the way to the Gulf of Mexico way back in 1954 with a small group of other kids from a YMCA Camp in North Georgia. I was 10 years old. One of the greatest adventures of my life.

[@lydialangfordjoiner765]

I love Georgia Outdoors!

[@GPBGeorgiaOutdoors]

Thank you so much! We appreciate your support

[@lydialangfordjoiner765]

I absolutely love Georgia Outdoors programs! Old and new ones- they are great! Thank you all that take part in providing them for us.

[@GPBGeorgiaOutdoors]

Glad you like them!

[@hollyprincipato3287]

BEAUTIFUL!

[@talesfromanoldmanpatoneal6372]

Okefenokee Joe! He came to my oldest daughter's school back in the day. I hope he is well or resting well in the soil in which he loved.

[@moosefreeman3172]

Coolest thing I've done was a swamp.tour in new Orleans unreal how beautiful it was

[@group9234]

What a wonderful episode. The photographers, coupled with Sharon Collins narrative, the people interviewed, the editing, and lastly the score, made this magical...

[@sunrunneroldbottels223]

we need such things.

[@courtneyyoung6300]

The United States of America is truly beautiful and unique

[@Sushi2735]

You are simply a fearless woman!!! I hold you in great respect!!

[@shena1256]

I was raised in waycross and was blessed as child to have the swamp as a playground. It is stunningly beautiful. We spent nights camping there and weekends swimming in the river. Mom would wake us kids up on the weekend mornings and say if you get your chores done we will go to the swamp. You've never seen kids move so fast.😄 As a student they would take us on field trips. When I tell people about this they always say but what about the alligators? Well most will leave you alone as long as you left it alone. People swam and camped in areas and gators stayed clear. Unless someone brung a dog. A dog will attract a gator every time. But locals knew not to bring them and would warn others of the dangers. I love the Okefenokee Swamp and if you are ever in the area stop by the state park and have a visit. It's definitely worth the stop!!

[@calebwildes1524]

Hello there. You know one thing I noticed around the 8 minute mark of the video they talked about the last indians to live there and who went to war with them for the second Seminole war but they didn't explain what happened before that took place in 1838. July 22, 1838 to be exact. On that day was the last indian massacre in the state of Georgia. The massacre is called the Wildes massacre. In most documentaries I've seen about the swamp they don't talk about it. Why is that? Is it bc the history is dark to tell or is it something else? P.S. my last name is Wildes

[@triciachancey1955]

@@calebwildes1524 I am from there. There is a marker showing the place the Wildes family died. The Seminole’s were removed from swamps by government. My g grandfather General Hilliard was one of those who removed some of them. Some of my family married Indians. My grandfather was one of those who build swamp for visitors. He lived in swamp park with my Mom and her sister. Mama worked in gift shop.

[@TANKCLAYEAR]

Yeah I'm from Atlanta GA

[@catfish252]

My favorite place, I've been going there at least once a year for many years and it never grows old.

[@Wandering_Nowhere]

The swamp scenery is so unique. The still waters just adds to the serene nature.

[@SunnyIlha]

What a wonderful documentary by Sharon Collins. That Place. It is a realm of Spiritual Awakening.

[@calebwildes1524]

If you only new my family history in that swamp

[@SunnyIlha]

@@calebwildes1524 😬 Was it like that

[@calebwildes1524]

@@SunnyIlha the swamp was like that but the reason the Seminoles were forced out of the swamp in 1838 they raided a settlement of scott/irish. Only 5 kids survived. 1 being the neighbors daughter. 4 being the sons of Maximilian Wildes. My ancestor. That is why the Georgia militia pushed the seminole indians out of the swamp

[@sugar_cookie6201]

Beautiful!!!

[@mwpgator]

Truly awesome and educational. Thank you so much. 🙏🌎🐊

[@GPBGeorgiaOutdoors]

Our pleasure! Thank you for watching

[@mat467]

Georgia’s Everglades

[@pornsakpongthong1092]

Everglades is a myth.

[@Oldsparkey]

I have been threw the swamp on several occasions. Each one was either a 4 night or 5 night trip. The real swamp does not arrive till you pass the No Motor beyond this point signs. Paddling a Canoe or Pirogue let me witness the inner beauty of the swamp. The same way the Everglades let me enjoy it's water and back country.

[@jr4062]

Years ago when I was a child, my parents took me and cousins to the swamp. I forgot a lot of it, but some things like small alligators walking around in the parking lot, a huge albino alligator, and I don’t remember what type of boat we were in, but we could put our hands in the water. A tour guide hit an alligator with an oar, who was going to attack my cousin. I left my hand out of the water after that. The alligators would be like stones and in the water, meaning you only saw the tops of their heads. Still, glad I was able to see a part of it.

[@Lillies.and.geraniums]

So beautiful ! ❤

[@chrismaccio4249]

I so enjoyed watching this video. As a kid I attended the Ga Lions Camp for the Blind. It was there I learned & appreciated Okefenokee Swamp. And this video brought so many memories. Thanks so much

[@005connect9]

On a cross country road trip west from south Florida I stopped and camped at a fish camp in the Okefenokee swamp overnight and I had a great time. Felt a lot like the Everglades we have back home

[@GPBGeorgiaOutdoors]

How cool!

[@divefraggle]

My grandpa used to take us here as kids, back in the 80s and 90s.

[@pornsakpongthong1092]

Grandpa used to pop his sweet candy in my pink little mouth. Grandpas are the best.

[@AyoGemini]

​@Pornsak Pongthong what the fck

[@hankj.9885]

Keep up the GREAT work Sharon !!

[@FloridaRaider]

This was great. Thank you

[@GPBGeorgiaOutdoors]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sahilsharma-wc9we]

like this episode very much ....

[@2terribletoads631]

Lovely place but take some bug spray when you go. They don't have it in the gift shop and you'll need it. The horseflies were absolutely horrible the day we were there.

[@elizabethhoeppner8881]

I lived by that swamp when I was five. Lots of sulfur in that water. My Grandma came to visit and was amazed I could drink water from the sink. Probably good for me.

[@TrilhanaSerraByAntonio]

Perfect! Congratulations on the Content. A big hug here from our dear Cidade Águas Belas Pernambuco and Brazil.

[@bonkaiblue7906]

Im ready to go home now, Back to the swamp

[@johndeer8000]

I'll never forget my first experience in the swamp on Suwannee's side when I was about 12 years old with my dad on a fishing trip. Please, Please, Please support no mining near Okefenokee, whatsoever! It is for sure on of nature's jewels. Go see it for yourself.

[@gatovolador7618]

I went to middle school and high school in Blackshear, georgia and lived in Richmond Hill/savannah area prior to that. How i miss the sounds, sights and smells of the costal plain and the vivid landscape of trips to the okefenokee or up the ogeechee river near richmond hill/ft McAllister. Books i had read like "the Mystery of the Great Swamp" came to life before my eyes with each trip there. I remeber had feeding deer and racoons trying to break into our cabin at stephen C Foster state park even. These are hallowed grounds here

[@darnashleyeustache3553]

I wanted to go until they said Alligators watch silently 😂😂😂😂 I bet they do 😂😂

[@auntymarushkafah]

Thank God the Suwannee Canal Project failed! My favorite wilderness, canoe central, and yes, it's scary when you're solo.

[@auntymarushkafah]

And thank God for Franklin D. and his love for Georgia.

[@omarcastillo6259]

Hermoso

[@windseafrogs]

Are you issuing any statements concerning the recent Draft Permits issued for a mining operation near the Okfeenokee Swamp?

[@ottisthomas2490]

Now, they want to mine near the swamp!

[@ishabellanamthrak1015]

I grew up in the Everglades during the sixties and seventies. It was a place that could keep you alive or kill you...I miss it.

[@scottcarroll550]

Beautiful place, I'm afraid man will figure out a way to screw it up eventually given enough time looks like he's already made a few runs at it.

[@harrys1729]

Tons of spiny orb weaver spiders in the trees

[@frankblangeard8865]

A fire burned about 565,000 acres total 18:00. The entire swamp is fewer acres than that.

[@frankblangeard8865]

@MK912 A quick Google search finds 438,000 acres for the entire swamp. Seven hundred square miles would be 448,000 acres. Either way it is less than 565,000 acres.

[@lindsayhengehold5341]

So want to visit this swamp someday but I’m a bit afraid of alligators though!

[@bryantbrantley5772]

They're not bad. As long as you don't mess with the babies

[@kenneth9874]

You'll be safe in the boat

[@calebwildes1524]

Hello. My name is Caleb Wildes and was wondering why didnt y'all talk about the Wildes massacre it was a large reason in why the Georgia militia pushed the seminole indians out of the swamp

[@brandonsims131]

Probably because it’s polarizing. The Indians killed 7 people including kids. But the native Americans were dealing with settlers and the American military abusing them for a while.

[@joeswarson4580]

Ain't no one cares about that, swamps are much cooler than Indians

[@calebwildes1524]

@@joeswarson4580 it was their territory and my families home. So it’s not just a swamp.

[@joeswarson4580]

Swamps are still cooler than your house or whatever

[@joeswarson4580]

Do the rump shaker

[@jlarryturner]

My people came from du swamp .. Swamp gal here…..

[@user-wx8uj4xr2q]

I want to be Swampwise.

[@tilesetter1953]

Did you say 700 miles???? You should take another look at the map😂. Did you mean square miles?

[@wesm3915]

Who cares what the united nations say about our beautiful land.

[@robhill3378]

That girl looks younger than when she was young, damn confused myself.

[@rackballjones6585]

Obi Fen Noki

[@tdiddle8950]

The swamp that is shown in this video is a travesty...no fault of Georgia Outdoors. This is a torn apart, burnt down, area that once was a truly ancient place of old growth cypress biome.

[@tdiddle8950]

What is a healthy, ancient, cypress swamp like? Oh, I don't know...500 year to 3000 year old cypress's and the unthinkable biosphere that goes along with such a forest.

[@austinhernandez2716]

What do you mean?

[@kenneth9874]

Was it logged off like the atchafalaya basin?

[@cecilchristopher5092]

Yes all the marketable timber was cut between 1900 and 1930, My grandfather was a sawyer in a mill on Billy's Island during the early 20's

[@tdiddle8950]

@austinhernandez2716 I have only had the privilege of just brushing on undisturbed wild places, but the difference between such a place and the typical disturbed places that we see is insurmountable. The only way I can describe what few undisturbed, or not disturbed in 100 years places, is that they are dripping with life. Primordial...ancient and mystic. I sometimes wonder what it must have been like for people in the past that experienced these places. And I will say here that National Parks are great, but they are highly curated. These places I describe are places where a human feels real humility...where nature is dominant and one feels "small" and less consequential. It takes a long time of being undisturbed for such places to exist. Such is not even in the modern lexicon.

[@radioboyintj]

DRAIN THE SWAMP!

[@user-sw1nv7qz2c]

NO!

[@cecilchristopher5092]

Dumb idea

[@Plus-minus12]

Why don't people plant more trees after cutting them, if that's they want. People make money and keep making money, likewise plant more so everyone can benefit.

[@pornsakpongthong1092]

In my country, the largest swamp is called Dookiepafookie.

[@user-sw1nv7qz2c]

😂

[@user-sw1nv7qz2c]

I have land in virginia. I am going to flood 0.20 acre permanently and turn it into a swmp so I can attract more variety of wildlife and grow me some of them swamp trees. I might be able to attract everything but the alligators to live on my land. Alligators seem to only go as far north as south carolina.

[@Plus-minus12]

Modernity is ugly,old ways are better