Cumberland Island

https://www.nps.gov/cuis/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_Island_National_Seashore Cumberland Island National Seashore preserves most of Cumberland Island in Camden County, Georgia, the largest of Georgia's Golden Isles. The seashore features beaches and dunes, marshes, and freshwater lakes. The national seashore also preserves and interprets many historic sites and structures. The island is only accessible by boat. The Cumberland Island Visitor Center, Cumberland Island Museum, and Lang concession ferry to the island are located in the town of St. Marys, Georgia. Public access via the ferry is limited, reservations are recommended. Camping is allowed in the seashore. The 9,886-acre (40.01 km2) Cumberland Island Wilderness is part of the seashore. St Marys is the gateway to Cumberland Island, Georgia's largest and southernmost barrier island. Here pristine maritime forests, undeveloped beaches and wide marshes whisper the stories of both man and nature. Natives, missionaries, enslaved African Americans and Wealthy Industrialists all walked here. Cumberland Island is also home to over 9,800 acres of Congressionally designated Wilderness. Cumberland Island is only accessible by ferry or private boat. These directions are to the mainland visitor center in St. Marys, GA. Driving Directions To reach the visitor center from Interstate 95: • Take Exit 3 for US 40 • Take US 40 East toward “Historic Downtown St. Marys” • US 40 becomes Osborne Rd. Continue on until you reach the waterfront • Turn right on St. Marys Rd • The visitor center will be two blocks down on your left (113 St. Marys St W, St Marys GA 31558) Mainland Museum Exhibits explore the cultural and natural history of the island from prehistoric American Indian lives, through British occupation during the war of 1812, the Plantation Era, the Gilded Age, and the island today. To reach the museum from Interstate 95: • Take Exit 3 for US 40 • Take US 40 East toward “Historic Downtown St. Marys” • US 40 becomes Osborne Rd. • The Mainland Museum will be on the right, one block north of the waterfront. (129 Osborne Rd, St Marys GA 31558) Mainland Visitor Center The Mainland Visitor Center is located at the waterfront in downtown St. Marys, GA. Visitors taking a ferry to the island should check in at this location 1 hour prior to departure. The visitor center offers exhibits, a bookstore with memorabilia, and information to help you plan your visit to the island. Rangers are available to answer questions, sell park passes, and issue camping permits for private boaters. Long term parking is located one block west on the north side of the street. To reach the visitor center from Interstate 95: • Take Exit 3 for US 40 • Take US 40 East toward “Historic Downtown St. Marys” • US 40 becomes Osborne Rd. Continue on until you reach the waterfront • Turn right on St. Marys Rd • The visitor center will be two blocks down on your left (113 St. Marys St W, St Marys GA 31558) Sea Camp Ranger Station Located at the Sea Camp dock on Cumberland Island. Visitors camping on the island must visit Sea Camp for a quick orientation and to receive their camping permits. Volunteers and rangers staff the station when available throughout the day. Here visitors can get information, see exhibits, attend interpretive programs, and rent bicycles when the ferry arrives. Located at the end of the Sea Camp Dock on Cumberland Island National Seashore. The island is only accessible by boat. Brickhill Bluff Wilderness Campsite Brickhill Bluff Wilderness Campsite is one of three campgrounds in Cumberland Island’s designated wilderness on the northern part of the island. The campsite is located 10.5 miles north of the Sea Camp dock. Wilderness sites have no amenities. Fires are prohibited, but camp stoves can be used for cooking. Campers should be prepared to hang all food and trash. Water is available from a pump well located in the site and must be treated. Permits are $9 a night, good for up to 6 people. Wilderness Camping Fee 9.00 Permits are $9 a night, good for up to 6 people. Brickhill Bluff Wilderness Campsite campsite along water with palm trees and water pump Brickhill Bluff Wilderness Campsite Brickhill Bluff Wilderness Campsite red tent and backpack set up under palm and oak trees Camping at Brickhill Bluff Wilderness Campsite Brickhill Bluff Sunset camper watches sunset across water from camp Brickhill Bluff offers great views of sunset and is accessible by kayak Hickory Hill Wilderness Campsite Hickory Hill is one of three campgrounds in Cumberland Island’s designated wilderness on the northern part of the island. The campsite is located 5.5 miles north of the Sea Camp dock. Wilderness sites have no amenities. Fires are prohibited, but camp stoves can be used for cooking. Campers should be prepared to hang all food and trash. Water is available from a nearby well and must be treated. Permits are $9 a night, good for up to 6 people. Wilderness Camping Fee 9.00 Permits are $9 a night, good for up to 6 people. Hickory Hill Wilderness Campsite open campsite under live oak canopy Hickory Hill Wilderness Campsite Hickory Hill Wilderness Site tent clearing clearing with cut logs under large live oak Hickory Hill Wilderness site tent clearing Hickory Hill Wilderness Site tent clearing 2 open clearing under live oaks with draping spanish moss Hickory Hill Wilderness Site tent clearing 2 Boardwalk on Willow Pond Trail boardwalk leading through marsh and palmettos Willow Pond Trail has several sections of boardwalk leading to Hickory Hill Sea Camp Campground Sea Camp Campground is located a half mile from the Sea Camp dock. All sites are walk-to, tent sites and campers are responsible for transporting all gear. Carts can be used. There are flush toilets, drinking water, cold showers, and a dish washing sink. Each site has a fire ring with grill, picnic table and food storage. It is common for this campground to fill up. Permits are $22 a night for individual sites good for up to 6 people. Group sites are $40 a night good for up to 20 people. Sea Camp individual site 22.00 Campers must have a reservation. Individual sites have a maximum of six people per site. The fee covers one night. Sea Camp Group Site 40.00 Campers must have a reservation. Each group site will accommodate a maximum of 20 campers. The fee is per night. There are no discount for America the Beautiful Senior or Access passes as group sites. Sea Camp site 9 campsite with picnic table, food cage, and fire ring under live oak trees Sea Camp site 9 Sea Camp boardwalk Long boardwalk over vegetated sand dunes, leading to beach Sea Camp boardwalk to the beach Sea Camp live oak canopy trail leading through bright green palmettos; twisted oak branches against a white sky Sea Camp is covered by a canopy of twisted live oak branches Stafford Beach Campground Stafford Beach Campground requires a three and a half mile hike from Sea Camp. All sites are walk-to, tent sites and campers are responsible for transporting all gear. Carts of any kind or wheeled coolers cannot be used to haul gear. The site has flush toilets, cold showers, and water spigots with potable water. The sites include fire rings with grills. Food storage lockers (bear boxes) are available. Sites are $12 a night, good for up to 6 people. Stafford Beach Camping Fee 12.00 Sites are $12 a night, good for up to 6 people. Stafford Beach Campground site 3 Tent and fire pit under arching live oak branches Stafford Beach site 3 Stafford Beach Campground restroom brown building with ramp Stafford Beach Campground restroom & shower building Yankee Paradise Wilderness Campsite Yankee Paradise is one of three campgrounds in Cumberland Island’s designated wilderness on the northern part of the island. The campsite is located 7.5 miles north of the Sea Camp dock. Wilderness sites have no amenities. Fires are prohibited, but camp stoves can be used for cooking. Campers should be prepared to hang all food and trash. Water is available from a nearby well and must be treated. Permits are $9 a night, good for up to 6 people. Wilderness Camping Fee 9.00 Permits are $9 a night, good for up to 6 people. Yankee Paradise Wilderness Campsite Open pine needle covered ground surrounded by live oaks, pines, and palmettos Yankee Paradise Wilderness Campsite Vegetated Dunes Sand dunes covered with shrubs and grasses Vegetation holds dunes in place providing a barrier to erosion forces and creating essential interdune meadows to support island life. Home To Wildlife Alligator resting on a log in pond Cumberland Island National Seashore encompasses a variety of forest, marsh, and coastal landscapes providing a home for numerous species including American Alligators. Undeveloped Coast Ocean beach at sunrise Cumberland Island National Seashore encompasses nearly 18 miles of undeveloped beach offering recreation for visitors and essential nesting area for birds and sea turtles. Plum Orchard Mansion large, white mansion behind oak trees draped with Spanish Moss Visitors can take a guided tour of the Plum Orchard Mansion and experience the luxuries of Victorian high society as well as the effort and ingenuity it took to make it possible. Island Bluffs Shaped By Tides rippled sands of a beach in front of pine tree covered bluffs Tidal forces continue to shape the land today as they have for thousands of years forming high bluffs used for fortifications and ship docking throughout the island’s history. Historic Main Road huge oak trees and palm shrubs line a sand road While visitors to the island cannot bring vehicles, they can travel the historic main park road by foot and bicycle. Some remaining island residents will still drive vehicles on the road to reach their residences as they have for generations. Dungeness Ruins brick and stone ruins of a large mansion at sunset under colorful clouds Dugeness was the largest mansion built on the island as part of the Carnegie Estate. Though lost to fire in 1959, the ruins of the mansion and several of its support structures are a reminder of the island’s rich history. The Settlement small white one room church, old red house in the background, under cloudy skies The remote north end of the island is home to the First African Baptist Church and The Settlement, where African American residents were able to purchase their first deeded property on the island at the end of the 1800s. Tidal Creek tidal creek at low tide surrounded by palm and oak trees Rising tides bring valuable nutrients into tidal creeks, while receding tides remove waste. This makes the tide cycle the beating heart of the island’s tidal creeks, salt marshes, and estuaries. NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. vegetated dunes Cumberland Island National Seashore Cultural Landscapes Cumberland Island, Georgia's largest and southernmost barrier island, is not connected to the mainland by causeway or bridge. The rich and layered history of Cumberland Island National Seashore is etched on a landscape of maritime forest, marshland and beaches, settlements, and grand designed estates. The island has been inhabited by a Timucuan tribe, Spanish priests and soldiers, plantation owners and slaves, tourists, and wealthy industrialist families. Water plants grow in a pond under a tall tree, with a two-story house beyond - historic image. Cumberland Island National Seashore Completes Prescribed Burn in Stafford Field On February 13, 2019, staff from multiple national park units and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted a prescribed fire in the Stafford Field and Stafford Plantation areas of Cumberland Island National Seashore, reintroducing fire to the landscape. A group of firefighters in front of a forest look at the camera. Southeast National Parks Train 165 New Wildland Firefighters Between December 2011 and March 2012, Southeast Region national parks trained 165 new wildland firefighters in S-130/190 courses at four separate units, including Mammoth Cave National Park, Kings Mountain National Military Park, Cumberland Island National Seashore, and Everglades National Park. Trainees came from federal and state agencies, local fire departments, universities, and other partners. Whitney Fire Opens Up Prescribed Fire Opportunity at Cumberland Island National Seashore In July 2019, fire managers at Cumberland Island National Seashore took advantage of a recent wildfire to help manage a prescribed fire that reduced the threat of future wildfire to structures in the wildland urban interface. Aerial view of smoke rising from a forested area near houses. NPS Prescribed Fire Program Goes Global On November 14, 2019, Atlantic Zone Fire Management Officer Richard Sinkovitz based out of Cumberland Island National Seashore joined the regional government of the state of Andalucía in southern Spain and the Nature Conservancy for the the Andalucía Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) in the province of Almeria. The TREX was organized by the agency in Andalucía responsible for wildfire management, Servicio Operativo de Extinción de Incendios Forestales (INFOCA). The back of wildland firefighter wearing a red helmet and jacket. Women in Fire Science: Ellen Frondorf Ellen Frondorf has worked in fire effects monitoring for the National Park Service. She shares her story of work in fire science. A woman in a baseball cap stands in a meadow. Unprecedented Success at Cumberland Island in 2020 Unprecedented Success at Cumberland Island in 2020 In 2015, a new fire management plan for Cumberland National Seashore opened avenues for greater-than-expected success in 2020. The plan expanded the use of mechanical treatment for hazardous fuel reduction allowing crews to conduct prescribed fire in areas never previously treated. Natural wildfires in the Cumberland Island Wilderness could now also be managed for resource benefit. Smoke rises from trees beyond a small white church. Something New Every Day Every summer, the NPS Structural Fire Program recruits and places fire protection engineering, fire protection administration, and fire investigation students in NPS sites across the country to assist parks with meeting their structural fire management responsibilities. These interns bring their knowledge of fire protection systems and prevention strategies to the parks; in turn, parks offer vital work experience that the interns can take into future careers. A person writes on a clipboard while looking at a portable fire extinguisher mounted on a wall. Changing Patterns of Water Availability May Change Vegetation Composition in US National Parks Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios. Green, orange, and dead grey junipers in red soil, mountains in background My Park Story: Kaia Lohr Kaia Lohr is serving as a National Leader for the Community Volunteer Ambassador Program. They work directly with the National Park Service Volunteers-In-Parks program and provide peer support to over 50 Community Volunteer Ambassadors at national park sites across the US. In celebration of Pride Month, read about Kaia’s path to volunteerism and their connection with storytelling. Kaia smiles while leaning out the driver side of a white van. Updated Species Database Will Help Boost Amphibian Conservation Across the National Park Service To steward amphibians effectively, managers need basic information about which species live in parks. But species lists need constant maintenance to remain accurate. Due to recent efforts, the National Park Service now has an up-to-date amphibian species checklist for almost 300 parks. This information can serve as the basis for innumerable conservation efforts across the nation. A toad sits on red sand, looking into the camera. Building Coastal Resiliency We're restoring shoreline at 3 parks with Pervious Oyster Shell Habitat (POSH) modules created from oysters recycled from restaurants. These will serve as the base of new oyster beds that will fight erosion from boat wakes. two people carry oyster ball onto beach with marsh grasses