Georgia Natural Wonder #49 - E.F. Boyd Area - Ohoopee Dunes - Emanuel Co. 1,008

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #49 - Camp E.F. Boyd Natural Area - Ohoopee Sand Dunes/River - Emanuel County

I started out to concentrate on the 11 National Natural Landmarks in Georgia but ran in to a road block on Camp E.F. Boyd Natural Area. I searched around for an hour trying find something somewhere and this is all I got………

The Camp E. F. Boyd Natural Area is one of the best representatives of the upland sand ridge ecosystem of the Coastal Plain, a rapidly disappearing flood plain. The site also provides habitat for several rare plants and endangered species.


1 freaking photo.

Also got this disclaimer: Please remember, National Natural Landmarks (NNLs) are not national parks. NNLs are owned by a variety of public and private entities and allowing visitation is at their discretion. Many NNL sites maintain public websites where additional information may be found. We do know this site is in Emanuel County and there is sand everywhere down there.



HOTD challenge if anyone can find a link or photo or anything on this site, PM me with some such information so I can catalogue. Not to be undone – Sand Ridge – Emanuel County – that can mean only one thing baby …….

Ohoopee Sand Dunes

I stopped by this place years ago when I was adjusting an insurance claim down here, man it was funky. To be truthful I wandered about 300 to 400 yards and heard what I am sure was a rattlesnake. Sand all around so he wasn't in striking distance, I never really saw him, but I carefully retreated to the company car and went on back to the safety of East Cobb County. Had it on my list to do on Natural Wonders and after gathering the following information, I am going to let it supplement Camp E. F. Boyd Natural Area. The Ohoopee Dunes Natural Area is one of Georgia’s most significant natural communities and floristic areas. It begins in southeastern Georgia, just a few miles west of Swainsboro, in Emanuel County and extends into Tattnall County. While it seems strange to see sand dunes so far from the coast, the sandhills of the Ohoopee are ecologically identical to their seashore counterparts.



These inland dunes are remnants of an earlier time when sands were blown up from the riverbed onto the east bank by westerly winds during glacial periods. In some places, the sands are 70 feet deep. These aren’t your usual coastal sand dunes but rather reflect what happens to dunes when they sit around for 20,000 years and the coast moves 80 miles out. Interestingly, sand ridges only occur on the northeastern borders of the river (because that’s where the coast was).



OK we may not get back to Swainsboro or Emanuel County until way down the road with George L. Smith State Park. So that calls for a brief history tangent.



Emanuel County, in southeast Georgia's wiregrass region, is the state's thirty-ninth county. It was carved from Bulloch and Montgomery counties in 1812 and named for David Emanuel, a veteran of the Revolutionary War (1775-83) who served as governor of the state in 1801. Although portions of Emanuel County were later annexed by five other counties, Johnson (1858), Jenkins (1905), Toombs (1905), Candler (1914), and Treutlen (1918), its remaining 686 square miles make it the seventh largest in area of Georgia's counties.



Tangent on David Emanuel (1744 – February 19, 1808) became 24th Governor of Georgia on March 3, 1801 upon the resignation of James Jackson to become U.S. Senator from Georgia. Emanuel served until November 7, 1801, the remainder of Jackson's term, but did not seek re-election. Some historians believe Emanuel to be the first governor of Jewish heritage of any U.S. state, while others believe that he was Presbyterian. He served as a captain and colonel in the Georgia Burke County Militia during the American Revolution under the command of his brother-in-law general John Twiggs. He also was serving as a commander and scout. During the war, he is reported to have been captured by loyalists near McBean Creek and barely escaped execution and made his way back to American forces. Emanuel also served on the commission that investigated the Yazoo land scandal. No images of him or his grave to be found anywhere. He is one of 8 governor's that Burke County claims.


Blurry photo of marker so the inscription reads.....

Historic Burke County, formerly St. George`s Parish, claims 8 Ga. Governors by birth, residence or marriage. JOHN HOUSTOUN (1744-1796), Rev. patriot, member of Continental Congress, Gov. 1778-1779 & 1784-1785, was born near present Waynesboro. LYMAN HALL (1724-1790), Ga. signer of the Declaration of Independence, Gov. 1783-1874, died at his plantation home, Shell Bluff, in Burke Co. EDWARD TELFAIR (1735-1807), member of Continental Congress, signer of Articles of Confederation, Gov. 1785-1787 & 1789-1793, owned and operated large plantations in this county. JARED IRWIN (1750-1818), distinguished Rev. soldier and Indian fighter, Gov. 1796-1798 and 1806-1809, lived in the county for 30 years. DAVID EMANUEL (1744-1810) gallant Rev. soldier, Gov. 1801, was a resident and is believed to be buried in Burke County. WILLIAM SCHLEY (1786-1858), Judge, Congressman, Gov. 1835-1837, married Elizabeth, daughter of Brig. Gen. Abraham Jackson, of this county. HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON (1812-1880), Sen. Judge, candidate for Vice-President with Douglas, member of Conf. Senate, Gov. 1853-1857, was born and grew up in Burke County. HOKE SMITH (1855-1931), lawyer, editor, Sec. of Interior, Sen., Gov. 1907-1909 & 1911, was principal of Waynesboro Academy for several years.

The county's original inhabitants were Creek Indians, who lost their land in the 1773 and 1783 Indian cessions. The first white settlers arrived thereafter, acquired land by lottery, and cleared arable land from the pine barrens that cover the county to set up subsistence farms. Forest-related industries soon joined agriculture as an economic mainstay, with the longleaf pine forests providing raw material for sawmills, turpentine stills, and cabinetmakers.


Longleaf Pine forest.

Before the Civil War (1861-65), transportation through the county was hindered by a lack of roads and the population remained sparse. This did not prevent Union general William T. Sherman's troops from sweeping through the area in late 1864 on their march to the sea, however, and descendants of those who lived through the march still consider it a major part of the county's history.


Yankees marching through Georgia.

Many farms fell into a state of disrepair during the war, and efforts to rebuild were difficult after the cessation of hostilities. The county retained a rural character, chiefly because of the lack of roads and railroads. The first train tracks in Emanuel County were not laid until the 1870s, but when the railroads arrived, an era of large-scale lumber industry began. Nearly a century later, in the 1960s, a vigorous increase in both population and industrial trends led to the county's becoming a center for financial investment.

Loggers.
A crowd gathers to meet the train at the Central of Georgia Railway depot in Norristown?, in Emanuel County.

Swainsboro is the county seat. In 1822 the state legislature named it "Swainsborough" in recognition of Stephen Swain, the state senator who introduced the bill for the county's creation in 1812. The town's name was changed to Paris at its incorporation on February 18, 1854, but three years later reverted to its current name, Swainsboro.


James Coleman House.

In the age of the automobile Swainsboro has been called the "Crossroads of the South" for its location at the intersection of U.S. highways 1 and 80.



There are seven other incorporated towns in the county: Adrian, Garfield, Nunez, Oak Park, Stillmore, Summertown, and Twin City. Some communities in the county have unusual histories. Because of a late-nineteenth-century family feud, the county line zigzags through the town of Adrian, placing part of it in Johnson County and part of it in Emanuel County.


It is unknown why the name "Adrian" was applied to this community.

The town of Stillmore, originally called Kea's Mill, received its current name from residents with a sense of humor. They were prompted by a U.S. Post Office memo accompanying a list of potential new names for their town. The memo advised them that if they did not like any of the names on the list, "still more" could be sent.



The town is the setting for Stillmore, Georgia, a play written, produced, and directed by Brad Ogden.


Fountain in Swainsboro.

The northern portion of Emanuel County is centered on Summertown which was originally built up as a summer retreat, hence the name.



The southern border of Emanuel County heading from Garfield east-northeast and running north of Modoc, is located in the Upper Ogeechee River sub-basin of the Ogeechee River basin. The eastern portion of the county, east of Swainsboro, is located in the Canoochee River sub-basin of the same Ogeechee River basin. The western and southern portions of Emanuel County are located in the Ohoopee River sub-basin of the Altamaha River basin.


Garfield.

The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Nunez as a town in 1903.[5] The city was named after Samuel Nunez, a pioneer Jew in Georgia history.


Not much remains of Nunez, but these two historic storefronts.

In 1914 a murder–suicide committed by local farmer J.A. Eubanks got national news coverage in Oak Park. He murdered his wife and two daughters with an axe, set fire to some farm buildings, and shot himself in the head. Before killing himself, he woke a neighbor and told them what he had done. He did leave a suicide note. Several structures were destroyed in the fire, including houses of others. He had even cut the rope for the well bucket to keep the fire from being put out.



In a December 14, 1934 municipal election, Oak Park elected a mayor and five-person town council composed entirely of women.The election of an all-woman government was a first for Georgia, and novel enough that the event was covered by Associated Press and United Press news stories, both calling it "Petticoat Rule". It was not a surprise to the town however, as the all-woman slate had been nominated by men when the previous mayor retired and no men volunteered to replace him.



Some in the town apparently dissented, as the jail was set ablaze the night before the election and dynamite blasts were set off after it, damaging buildings. Despite that, Mrs. Solomon S. Youmans (the wife of a local physician) was elected mayor, and the council consisted of Mrs. J.D. Tyson, Mrs. G.C. Corbin, Mrs. J.J. Powell, Mrs. G.C. Williamson and Miss Ada Belle Thompson.



Twin City gets its name from the combining of two adjacent towns, Graymont and Summit. The two rival towns were merged in 1924 as Twin City.



Notable People Twin City

Johnny Archer, professional pool player.


The Scorpion.

Ginny Wright, country music singer.


   
Barbara Carlyle, professional comedian.



Courthouses

Emanuel County has had seven courthouses in its 200 years of existence. In the county's early years, the court met at Steven Rich's home. Emanuel County's first courthouse was erected in 1814 and burned in 1841. It wasn't until 1854, the same time that the city of Swainsboro was formally incorporated, that the county was allowed to build a replacement. In a string of bad luck, this new courthouse burned in 1855 and was replaced by another courthouse, which burned in 1857.


Emanuel County's fourth courthouse burned in 1919.


It was replaced by a three-story brick structure which, characteristically, burned in 1938.


The next courthouse, a two-story marble structure, was built in 1940 and was the first courthouse in Emanuel County's history not to be destroyed by fire. However, by the 1990s, the courthouse's cramped and deteriorating condition caused several county offices to vacate the courthouse and move into vacant office space surrounding the courthouse square. The courthouse was demolished in the spring of 2000, leaving only the sheriff's office annex. In the late 1990s, the Emanuel County commissioners purchased the former U.S. Post Office building, which was built in 1936, to serve as an interim courthouse. In 2000, the county commission acquired land adjacent to the old Post Office to build a new courthouse and sheriff's office.


Emanuel County's current courthouse, a large, single story brick structure incorporating the old Post Office building, was completed in 2002.

A city square was built on the former courthouse site with the old sheriff's office renovated to serve as the city's visitors' center as well as the office for Swainsboro-Emanuel County Chamber of Commerce.



Emanuel County residents include Pat Mitchell, the first woman to lead the Public Broadcasting Service.



Among the places of interest are the Emanuel Arts Council, which offers a gallery and a gift shop.



The George L. Smith State Park, which houses the renovated Parrish Mill, a combination gristmill, sawmill, covered bridge, and dam dating from the 1880s. Annual events include the Pine Tree Festival, Garfield Washpot Cookout, and Agricultural Appreciation Day.


George L. Smith State Park.

According to the 2010 U.S. census, the population of Emanuel County is 22,598, an increase from the 2000 population of 21,837.



Pine Tree Festival been going on for more than 70 years.





Now let’s get to the Georgia Natural Wonder.

Ohoopee Dunes Natural Area--Located on U.S. 80 west of Swainsboro, this dune system is unique to Georgia. The dunes are large oval structures believed to have been formed by wind deposits of sand on the eastern and northern banks of the Ohoopee River in South Georgia during the late Pleistocene Age (20,000 years ago). The dunes contain rare species and sensitive habitats. Dunes soil lacks nutrients and moisture, so it provides a desert-like environment with relatively stunted vegetation interspersed in the more dense vegetation that borders most of the river. Dunes vegetation is primarily dwarf oak / evergreen / shrub forest. The most common trees are dwarf live oaks, turkey oak and impressive longleaf pine. Shrubbery includes sand hill rosemary, red basil, shrub goldenrod, and joint weed. If you look carefully and are lucky, you may find Ohoopee Dunes Savory, a shrub that smells like basil and is found only in the Ohoopee dunes.



The natural area comprises three tracts in southwestern Emanuel County. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources also cooperates in managing an adjacent tract owned by The Nature Conservancy and another nearby tract owned by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Together, these five conservation lands, arranged in an archipelago-like fashion along the eastern boundary of the upper Little Ohoopee River, encompass nearly 3,000 acres. To protect these resources, vehicular access is limited. No ATVs or horses are allowed.



Ohoopee Dunes

The soil at Ohoopee Dunes Preserve is coarse, quartz-based sand. It holds few nutrients and drains quickly. It would seem an inhospitable bedrock for life to build upon. Yet that soil manages to support some of Georgia’s most unique plants and animals, species which, over the course of millennia have adapted specifically to the harsh conditions of these dunes and sandhills.



The preserve is a marvel, a 270-acre protected parcel within the much larger Ohoopee Dunes Natural Area, all of which is nurtured by the steady flow of water from the Little Ohoopee River.



The river itself joins with the big Ohoopee and eventually meets the Altamaha River, which drains into the Atlantic just south of Darien.



While the Ohoopee sandhills retain many of the characteristics of sand dunes, thousands of years of adaptation have given rise to many plant species that have added stark notes of beauty to an otherwise harsh environment. All of the natural communities of the region - from sandhills to longleaf pine woodlands - are considered important by the Conservancy and partners, who are working together to restore areas altered by agriculture and to encourage diversity of life on the property through prescribed burns, plant conservation, invasive species removal and comprehensive site monitoring.


Sandhill Rosemary

The Nature Conservancy encourages visitors to explore the Ohoopee Dunes State Natural Area adjacent to the preserve. For more information, call Preeya Philipps at 404-253-7216 or email [email protected]



From a Mississippi State Exploration

These dunes are very similar to the back dunes along the Gulf Coast of Alabama, except these dunes are some 80 miles or so from the coast. Even the plant and animal life is reminiscent of what we would see on the coast. Basically the plant community here could be described as a dwarf oak - evergreen scrub forest. Stunted turkey oaks seemed to be the predominant tree.



There is also longleaf pines, bluejack oak, and dwarf post oak also being common. Perhaps the more unusual elements found here were the woody shrubs such as Rosemary, seaside, or woody goldenrod and red flowering woody mint.


Woody Mint

There was also plenty of blueberry in fruit, some not quite in bloom yet. Some of the herbaceous plants here were gopher apple, in bloom.


Gopher Apple.

There was sand chickweed, nailwort, wire plant, Goat's rue, sand spikemoss. Also common here was a reindeer lichen.


Reindeer Lichen.

Gopher tortoise burrows were quite common here, although we didn't get to see a tortoise. I did manage to see a king snake one night, and indigo snakes are supposed to be here as well.


Two straight days of State reptile.

I think the Ohoopee Dunes are one of the finest habitats in Georgia. They are aeolian sand dunes covered primarily with turkey oaks and longleaf pines. Three different tracks are preserved by the State. The Nature Conservancy and U.S. Fish and Wildlife preserve other tracks.



I took this photo using the WiFi function on the camera and my iPhone as the remote. It is a fabulous thing. The camera was attached to the tripod and my friend Chris Walls held the camera as high as he could (at least 12 feet high) and I adjusted the exposure, focused, and took the photo with my phone. He did a great job of keeping it level. This was the only way I could take the photo above the stunted canopy. The turkey oaks have surprisingly beautiful fall foliage.

Driving

From Swainsboro (intersection of U.S. 80/U.S.1 Swainsboro Bypass):

** McLeod Bridge Tract: Travel 1.5 miles west on U.S. 80. Turn right onto county road (CR) 456 and travel northwest for 2.1 miles (this will become McLeod Bridge Road). Travel another 0.9 miles to the McLeod Bridge crossing. Parking is available on either side of the road or in one of several turnoffs to the south. The tract is located both to the north and south of the road and is bordered by the Little Ohoopee River on the west.

** U.S. 80 Tract (kiosk): Travel 4.1 miles west along U.S. 80. A small unpaved parking area and kiosk is north of the road. The entire tract is located to the north of the road.

** Halls Bridge Tract: Take U.S. 80 west for 0.7 miles and take a left onto CR 160 (Halls Bridge Road). Travel 5.8 miles on CR 160 to the Halls Bridge crossing (note: it will become an unpaved road at mile 3). Limited parking and a rudimentary canoe launch are available on the south side of the road by the bridge. The tract is located both to the north and south of the road and is bordered by the Little Ohoopee River to the west.



Still questions on origin of dunes, I provide a little background on Georgia’s Eolian Dunes. Along the north-eastern banks of many of South Georgia’s rivers there are unusual arched or parabolic sand dune fields, the largest single dune is more than 100 feet high, runs for 4.5 miles along the river and extends for a width 2 miles away from the river.



Along the Ohoopee River they form a continuous chain of sand dunes more than 50 miles long. Composed entirely of sand, these are structures which speak of large scale erosion, deposition and wind. Crescent shaped, parabolic sand dunes are common in deserts like the Sahara, where there is an ample supply of both sand and wind, but to find them along rivers or streams in water rich parts of the world is very rare. Georgia is rich in such rare dunes.



The parabolic shape is characteristic of a wind created dune, the term “eolian” means “carried or affected by the wind”. (Aeolian is also correct) The name originates from the Greek god of winds; Aeolus.



It would be strange enough if Georgia hosted just one set of such dunes, but where they do occur, they typically occur in sets. Additionally, they aren't along all Georgia rivers. This creates a need for an explanation. There are series of dunes, varying in size and height, at different distances from a river, clearly showing multiple events of flooding at different levels. There is also stratification within the dunes, obvious evidence of multiple dune building episodes. In at least one case, the furthest dune is more than a mile away from the modern banks. There are multiple cases where one dune formed its arch, and at a later date a second dune in-filled the hollow of the arch to create a “D” shape. The dunes weren’t confirmed as eolian dune chains until the early 1970s when the first satellite images of Georgia became available to Georgia geologists.



Arguments about their origins continued through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s with speculations even suggesting that Georgia had been a desert during the glacial maximums and the dunes forming as they do today in the Sahara. This was quickly overturned as it was pointed out that if this was the case such dunes would occur everywhere on the Coastal Plain; they don't. As early as 1911 they were recognized as Pleistocene, or ice age, structures. Veatch and Stephenson reviewed several of them and concluded that the sand had likely been deposited during ice melt driven floods and the dunes formed at least partly by wind action afterwards; they were absolutely correct.



In 2002 Andrew Ivester with the State University of West Georgia and David Leigh with the University of Georgia investigated several of these dune fields and concluded that they were evidence of repeated cycles of severe river flooding of glacial melt from the retreating glacial fields. The flooding had been caused by extended torrential rains; the exact opposite of a desert. The torrential were a product of glacial melt, but not directly. The Appalachian Mountains stand between Georgia and the parts of North America once ruled by giant glaciers. Rather, the melting glaciers helped create contemporary monsoon-like weather patterns for Georgia. It was these rains which eroded the sand and caused it to be deposited in the river beds. The sand originated from the weathering of mountains which had stood on Georgia’s Piedmont province, this became suspended in the fast flowing river floods of the flood plain. As the flooding abated, vast amounts of sand were left behind in the river beds.



The sand, which has the consistency of sugar, drains water very quickly so it is difficult for plants to colonize and stabilizes the dunes. Even today only drought resistant plants tend to be seen on many of the dunes. Recurring dry seasons during the ice ages left the sand vulnerable to the prevailing east blowing winds which lifted the sand to form these dunes. Our strange eolian dunes tell us a little more about conditions in Georgia during the Pleistocene.



Before we leave our post today I am intrigued by these descriptions of floating The Ohoopee River



The Ohoopee River originates in Washington County and flows south for approximately 100 miles before emptying into the Altamaha River along the southern border of Tatnall County. The Altamaha River - Georgia’s largest river - then flows eastward to empty into the Atlantic Ocean.



The Ohoopee River, with soft white sandbars and clean black water, is truly one of the most beautiful rivers in south Georgia. Ancient and mysterious, the name originates with the Creek Indians. The Ohoopee is one of the most exotic and beautiful rivers we have paddled in Georgia, in part because it’s a black water river that runs through an ancient system of sand dune ridges that were laid down during the Pleistocene when the area was coast.



Canoeing and Kayaking Georgia author Suzanne Welander says of the river: "Burgundy-red waters run sparklingly clear over the starkly contrasting white sand bottom and banks on the Ohoopee. A tributary of the Altamaha River, it is the western and northernmost river sporting this Coastal Plain combination. A shading canopy of mossdraped cypress and hardwoods combines with the Ohoopee’s natural tranquility and remote, pristine setting to set it apart as an exceptional showplace of nature and one of the most exotic and beautiful streams in southern Georgia."



Georgia’s most extensive riverine sandhill formation stretches for 65 miles along the eastern edge of the Ohoopee. Deposited over time by prevailing western winds during the last glacial era, today the dunes host a unique ecosystem that’s concentrated upstream along the Little Ohoopee river. The Ohoopee is recommended for overnight camping trips. Erosion of the dunes accounts for the numerous large sandbars (AKA campsites) found in all sections of the river. The major and best-known Ohoopee dune ridge ecosystem surrounds the Little Ohoopee, north of I-16. However, the sand hill ecosystem intermittently borders the Ohoopee for most of its length and periodically pokes through the dense oak/cypress forest on the parts we paddled.



In the river's upper reaches, a canopy of trees and vines almost always covers the water, with dazzling rays of sunlight dancing around you. Farther down, the Ohoopee opens up to reveal rare views of hardwood swamps and ecologically unique sand hill dunes. The river’s dune system, in particular, differs significantly from others in the coastal plain and supports several endangered animals and diverse, but unusually stunted vegetation.



Canoeing down the Ohoopee is an unforgettably spectacular and inspiring experience. One you do not want to miss. The Ohoopee is dependent upon rainfall to be navigable by canoe. Late summer droughts sometimes make it too low to paddle. Fall, winter, and spring will usually have sufficient water for enjoyable canoeing.


Flooding 2013 from 178 bridge Tatnall County.

The Ohoopee is a great river to do a two or three day overnight trip. You’ll be meandering through numerous gigantic sandbars, which provide outstanding locations for camping and picnicking. In other words, the Ohoopee can be run for most of the year, and is in many ways as unique as the Okefenokee, and constitutes a mandatory trip for southeastern paddlers.

Ohoopee River from US 1 to the Altamaha River - Class I - Length: 58.8 miles - Time: 5 days

Whew…… a paragraph – a disclaimer – and one photo - turned into a 13 page wonder most have passed by on I-16 without a second thought. Hardly any of these National Natural Landmarks are in the mountains and neither are my fall line rapids. Combine that with my wanting to do St. Simons before the cocktail party; so we will not be above Interstate 20 for a while. TRD like any good politician tries to listen to his constituency (Keef) and spread these wonders around. I think that’s how Warm Springs, Providence Canyon, and Radium Springs snuck in the top 7 (spreading around).

Pine Tree Festival pageant winners for Georgia natural Wonder Gals of day.