September 20 - 22

Jekyll Island Weekend Adventure
Jekyll Island, GA

Join the Georgia Conservancy on September 20 - 22 for a weekend adventure on Jekyll Island, including a Saturday paddle in the tidal creeks, marshes and intracoastal waterway of Jekyll!

From the Jekyll Island Authority: "Jekyll Island is a place where nature and humanity peacefully co-exist. The most accessible of Georgia’s protected barrier islands, the majority of Jekyll remains in a natural state and development is tightly limited to preserve the balance. The island is home to more than a thousand acres of mature maritime forest, an icon of the coastal South that has become threatened by over development throughout its range."

Jekyll Island, once known as the "playground of millionaires," is now home to Jekyll Island Club Historic District, Jekyll Island State Park, and other Jekyll Island Authority properties, including the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and Jekyll Island Museum.

Weekend Camping:

This is a primitive camping-only trip (Friday and Saturday nights), however, guests are welcome to provide their own accommodations for the weekend and join us for Saturday’s paddle if they pay the “Day Paddle” rate. Courtesy of the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA), we will be camping in the meadow of the historic dairy on the west side of Jekyll Island. Camping facilities include running water and rented porta-toilets. Shower facilities will be available at the Jekyll Island RV Campground two miles away.

Paddling:

Hosted by SouthEast Adventure Outfitters, our Saturday morning paddle will launch the Tidelands Nature Center on the southwest side of Jekyll Island and track around the south end beach. From there we will have lunch and do some island exploring on the Wanderer Trail before we ride the incoming tide back, exploring some tidal creeks along the way. Kayaks are not included in the cost of registration, but SouthEast Adventure has both kayaks and tandem kayaks for available to rent if you do not have your own boat. Rental link will be included in the DETAILS email.

Jekyll Island Wildlife 101:

After a day of paddling and exploring on Jekyll, we will be treated to “Jekyll Island Wildlife 101” hosted by JIA. The program will include local wildlife information, including basic biology, conservation challenges, the alligator experience, and dispelling myths about alligator behaviors. Guests will learn about some of the exciting alligator research taking place on Jekyll and how Jekyll Island helps create a safe co-existence between alligators and people.

Georgia Sea Turtle Center:

On Sunday morning, our group will enjoy breakfast and then pay a visit to the Georgia Sea Turtle Science Center at 11 AM for a guided tour. Our group will have the opportunity to explore the exhibit gallery (sea turtle museum) with an educator present to answer questions for the duration of our visit.

In-kind donors and local food producers we will be enjoying during our weekend: beer from a Georgia brewery, ASW Distillery (Atlanta), and Cafe Campesino Coffee (Americus).

Join us on a Georgia Conservancy Stewardship Trip to learn more about important location-specific conservation issues, as well as statewide advocacy opportunities. Our goal is simple: Create a connection between some of Georgia’s most precious places and the people needed to protect them.

TRIP PRICE/OPTIONS

REGISTER BELOW

*Registration opens to current Georgia Conservancy donors on June 5 at 5 PM and the General Public on June 7 at 5 PM

LEARN MORE ABOUT Jekyll ISLAND

Suggested Reading on Jekyll Island and Coastal Georgia

• Island Passages: An Illustrated History of Jekyll Island by Jingle Davis and Ben Galland

• Jekyll Island's Early Years: From Prehistory through Reconstruction by June Hall McCash

• Tracking the Golden Isles: The Natural and Human Histories of the Georgia Coast by Anthony J. Martin

• The Jekyll Island Club: Southern Haven for America's Millionaires by June Hall McCash and William Barton McCash

• Saving The Georgia Coast: A Political History of the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act by Paul Bolster

• Coastal Nature, Coastal Culture: Environmental Histories of The Georgia Coast by Paul M. Pressley and Paul S. Sutter

• Marsh, Mud and Mummichogs: An Intimate Natural History of Coastal Georgia by Evelyn B. Sherr

• The World of the Salt Marsh by Charles Seabrook

• Georgia’s Land of the Golden Isles by Burnette Vanstory

PHOTOS FROM PAST TRIPS

The Jekyll Island Adventure is one of the Georgia Conservancy's Bucket List Trips. Our Bucket List Trips are once-in-a-lifetime journeys that include adventures in the Cohutta Wilderness, Okefenokee Wilderness, Blackbeard Island Wilderness, on Cabretta Beach on Sapelo Island, Cloudland Canyon, Jekyll Island and on the Conasauga River.

Learn more about the Georgia Conservancy's Stewardship Trips Program

If you have any questions about our Stewardship Trips Program or about any upcoming trip, please contact Georgia Conservancy Stewardship Trips Director Clark Harrison at charrison@gaconservancy.org.

Click here to view our full calendar of trips & events