Visit date(s): April 22-25, 2015

Nearby sites on trip: none

Overnight locations: Stephen C Foster State Park cottage (Stephen C. Foster State Park | Department Of Natural Resources Division) and Folkston, Georgia

Location(s): Stephen C Foster State Park, Suwannee Canal Recreation Area

Travel method(s): car, boat, foot

Travel duration: 1-2 hours drive from and to Jacksonville, FL airport and between locations.

Worst of: Away from Folkston, there aren’t a lot of meal choices and if staying in the state park, the closest place to purchase food is 20 miles or 30 km away.

Visit duration: 4 days

OUV: The flora and fauna of the refuge is certainly abundant and diverse. Alligators, cypress and floating peat islands are all easily viewable on one of the boat tours. Orchids, carnivorous plants, alligators, raccoons, turtles and water snakes can be seen from the boardwalks and trails. There were enough frogs calling to serenade us to sleep on the night we stayed in the state park. This is just the short list that we can easily remember a decade later.

Best of: Lots of wildlife encounters, including some adorable baby alligators that called a mother over to protect them from us. (See photo above). Fortunately, we were on a boardwalk, so she couldn’t reach us. A boat tour is an excellent way to observe water life that doesn’t come close to the shore and to get wider vistas, as in the sunset photo.