George L. Smith State Park

Location of George L. Smith State Park

George L. Smith State Park is a 1,634 acre (6.61 km²) Georgia state park located near Twin City.

Entrance to the George L. Smith state park

The park is named after George L. Smith, a former speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives and Emanuel County native. Attractions include a grist mill, covered bridge, and the dam of the Watson Mill (built 1880). The park's location on a 412 acres (1.67 km²) mill pond dotted with many cypress trees makes it a haven for anglers and canoeists. The moderately sized state park is in a remote location, making it attractive for bird watchers and naturalists. Rare birds in residence include the great blueish and purpleish gray heron and the white ibis.

The lake/dam and mill now host a museum documenting the history of the site, along with selected artifacts from the old grist mill, as well as educational materials on the 15 Mile Creek watershed and estuary.

Watson Mill, from 1880, still functions, although it is no longer used for grist.

Facilities

25 Tent/Trailer/RV Sites
8 Cottages
Group Shelter
Pioneer Camping
Boat and Canoe Rental
Winter Shelter
4 Picnic Shelters
7.0 miles of walking trails, 10 miles of canoe trails

Habitat

The park includes nature trails that wind over seven miles through sandy soil and pass through a bird sanctuary and a tortoise habitat. The many hardwoods also attract various woodpeckers, sap suckers, and other birds less often seen in the pine forests of southern Georgia. The old dunes of the lower Coastal Plain in the region features longleaf pines, wiregrass, turkey oaks, and a forest of dwarf oak. The loose soil is ideal for tortoise burrows, and the dense foliage of the wiregrass provides cover for a wide variety of wildlife.

The nature trails at George L. Smith are well maintained, low grade, mixed forest hiking.

Pond

The park features a prominent "pond" more than one mile long that (when full) ranges from 2-3 feet deep near the edges, 5-7 feet deep further out, 8-10 feet in the middle of the "red trail" (in the flow of the original creek), and 12-14 feet just in front of the mill house. In periods of extended drought the water level can drop considerably and some of the paddling trails around the perimeter can almost dry up. There are three paddling trails available; one that runs up the center of the pond, and one near each of the outside borders. Kayaks and canoes are available for rent. Inflatables are not recommended due to occasional submerged tree stumps.

External links

Georgia State Parks

Protected areas of Georgia

Federal

National historic sites and military parks	Andersonville NHS Jimmy Carter NHS Martin Luther King, Jr. NHS Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park

National monuments	Fort Frederica Fort Pulaski Ocmulgee

National forests	Chattahoochee Oconee

National wildlife refuges	Banks Lake Blackbeard Island Bond Swamp Eufaula Harris Neck Okefenokee Piedmont Savannah Wassaw Wolf Island

Wilderness areas	Big Frog Wilderness Blood Mountain Wilderness Brasstown Wilderness Cohutta Wilderness Cumberland Island National Seashore Ellicott Rock Wilderness Mark Trail Wilderness Okefenokee Wilderness Raven Cliffs Wilderness Rich Mountain Wilderness Southern Nantahala Wilderness Tray Mountain Wilderness

Wild and scenic rivers	Chattooga River

National trails	Appalachian Trail Pinhoti National Recreation Trail

Other protected areas	Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Cumberland Island National Seashore Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve

State

Parks	Amicalola Falls Black Rock Mountain Bobby Brown Buck Shoals Chattahoochee Bend Cloudland Canyon Crooked River Don Carter Elijah Clark F.D. Roosevelt Florence Marina Fort Mountain Fort Yargo General Coffee George L. Smith George T. Bagby Georgia Veterans Gordonia-Alatamaha Hamburg Hard Labor Creek Hart High Falls Indian Springs James H. "Sloppy" Floyd John Tanner Laura S. Walker Little Ocmulgee Magnolia Springs Mistletoe Moccasin Creek Panola Mountain Providence Canyon Red Top Mountain Reed Bingham Richard B. Russell Sapelo Island Seminole Skidaway Island Smithgall Woods Sprewell Bluff Standing Boy Creek Stephen C. Foster Sweetwater Creek Tallulah Gorge Tugaloo Unicoi Victoria Bryant Vogel Watson Mill Bridge

Historic parks and sites	A.H. Stephens Chief Vann House Dahlonega Gold Museum Etowah Indian Mounds Fort McAllister Fort King George Fort Morris Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation Jarrell Plantation Jefferson Davis Memorial Kolomoki Mounds Lapham-Patterson House Little White House New Echota Pickett's Mill Battlefield Robert Toombs House Travelers Rest Wormsloe

Forests	Baldwin Bartram Brender-Hitchiti Dixon Memorial Dawson Hightower Paulding Spirit Creek

Other	Centennial Olympic Park Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Jekyll Island Len Foote Hike Inn Radium Springs Sapelo Island Stone Mountain Park

County,
municipal
and other

Parks	Chehaw Park Cobb County Parks McIntosh Reserve Murphey Candler Park Okefenokee Swamp Park Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park Roswell Recreation and Parks Seaborn Jones Memorial Park Shaking Rock Park

Forests and nature preserves	Autrey Mill Nature Preserve & Heritage Center Fernbank Forest Marshall Forest Morningside Nature Preserve Phinizy Swamp Nature Park Reynolds Nature Preserve

Nature and environmental education centers	Birdsong Nature Center Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center Chattahoochee Nature Center Cochran Mill Nature Center Dauset Trails Nature Center Dunwoody Nature Center Elachee Nature Science Center Georgia Nature Center Grand Bay Wetland Education Center Melvin L. Newman Wetlands Center Oatland Island Wildlife Center Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center Panola Mountain State Park Nature Center Sandy Creek Nature Center Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum & Nature Center Tidelands Nature Center Tybee Island Marine Science Center West Atlanta Watershed Alliance Outdoor Activity Center

Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Georgia Forestry Commission (web)

Coordinates: 32°33′43″N 82°06′47″W / 32.562°N 82.113°W / 32.562; -82.113

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