Georgia > West Central Georgia > Muscogee County > Columbus

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Don’t be surprised if you spot a baby bobcat on the trails around the Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center.

Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center was once the site of a landfill near the Chattahoochee River in south Columbus. The city capped the landfill with three feet of compacted dirt and sank monitoring wells, and then in 1995, opened the environmental learning center on 1,600 acres of reclaimed land. The pits are now wetland ponds, and a 300-year-old natural oxbow lake gives the area its name.

You will find a lot of river wildlife here, including turtles, butterflies, snakes, fish, otters, beaver, deer, wading birds, herons, waterfowl and songbirds. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Northeast Georgia Mountains > Dawson County > Dawsonville

Kangaroos galore—ranging from 2 to 200 pounds and standing as tall as 6 feet—roam the countryside at the Kangaroo Conservation Center. 

Who says you have to travel half way around the world to the Land Down Under to see a kangaroo. In fact, you can experience a genuine Aussie wildlife adventure, just by hopping aboard the KangaRanger and exploring mobs of bouncing kangaroos at the Kangaroo Conservation Center —”America’s Aussie Adventure” — a unique ecotourism attraction located in Dawsonville on 87 acres in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

With its 26 year dedicated focus on both wildlife conservation and education, the Kangaroo Conservation Center has successfully bred and raised the largest single collection of hundreds of kangaroos – representing 12 different species – outside of Australia.

In addition to its wide array of marsupials, the Kangaroo Conservation Center offers educational adventures, frequent viewings of recent births and hatchings, animal shows, exhibits, hiking trails, a butterfly picnic garden, and wide variety of guided and self-guided tours.

Proceeds from sales at the Aussie Outpost, the conservation center’s unique and fun gift store, help support safe wildlife habitats and preservation. And by the way, no children under five years old are admitted to the facility.

Read more about Zoos and Animal Parks in Georgia, Dawsonville and Dawson County, or find other activities in the Northeast Georgia Mountains Travel Region here at Brown’s Guides.

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > East Central Georgia > Richmond County > Augusta

Beavers, both stuffed and alive, can be seen at the Phinizy Swamp Nature Park in Augusta.  

Blue heron, otters, alligator, bobcats. Who would think that type of wildlife could be seen just a few minutes from downtown Augusta, Georgia? But a trip to the 1,100-acre Phinizy Swamp Nature Park provides you with a chance to see all that and more.

There are a number of nature trails for exploring the swamp park. The 0.5 Beaver Dam Trail overlooks an active beaver pond; the mile long Wetlands Trail is a favorite area for migrating waterfowl, shorebirds, marsh and wading birds, and birds of prey; the Butler Creek Trail meanders through a deciduous upland forest and has a beautiful view over the floodplain of Butler Creek from a high ridge; and 1.1-mile River Scar Trail goes through the wetlands that border a river scar featuring a cypress-tupelo swamp. All trails are wheelchair accessible and mountain bikes are permissible on a couple. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > West Central Georgia > Harris County > Pine Mountain

Walk amongst a thousand tropical butterflies fluttering freely through the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center at Callaway Gardens. 

When Cason Callaway, leading Georgia businessman and personal friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, stepped down as leader of the family mill empire, the LaGrange textile magnate decided to pursue a longtime dream to farm. His dream first took shape when his wife Virginia and he, while exploring Pine Mountain in the 1920s, spotted the deep, clear pool of Blue Springs underneath a granite cliff. Enchanted, they visited frequently; and on one summer picnic, they found a rare Plumleaf azalea. Upon investigation, they discovered that the July-blooming azalea was native only within a 100-mile radius of Blue Spring. The flower inspired them to purchase the land in Harris County adjacent to Blue Springs and later to build Callaway Gardens.

Today, Callaway Gardens is a 13,000-acre manmade landscape in a natural setting with gardens, woodlands, lakes, wildlife and recreation facilities. The Plumleaf, or Prunifolia, azalea today serves as the Gardens’ floral emblem.

You can visit the Azalea Bowl, a 40-acre garden with more than 3,400 hybrid azaleas ­– fantastic in spring; Mr. Cason’s Vegetable Garden, a 7.5-acre demonstration garden where the popular PBS television show “The Victory Garden” is taped; the historic Overlook Garden; and the John A. Sibley Horticultural Center, a garden/ greenhouse where something is always in bloom; and much more. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > West Central Georgia > Harris County > Pine Mountain

Butterflies roam freely throughout the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, a climate controlled glass conservatory at Callaway Gardens. 

If you have ever stopped to admire the brilliance of a butterfly floating across your garden or chuckled as a child scampered in pursuit, then you will thrill to a walk through the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center at Callaway Gardens.

Imagine 1,000 tropical butterflies in all their colorful glory flying freely all around you in this enclosed octagonal glass conservatory. Opened in 1988, the 4.5-acre conservatory with its 12-foot waterfall and pool was designed to recreate the atmosphere of a rain forest environment.

Fifty species of butterflies roam throughout the Butterfly Center — if you stand still one might land on your shoulder. Look closely and you may see moths and butterflies emerging from chrysalises. Numerous tropical plants and tropical birds add to the experience. (more…)

By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Georgia > Southwest Georgia > Thomas County > Thomasville

Plants that attract butterflies and birds are an inspiring part of the landscape along the twelve miles of nature trails found at Birdsong Nature Center. 

When traveling in Southwest Georgia near Thomasville, be sure to visit Birdsong Nature Center. Located south of the city, just four miles north of the Florida state line, Birdsong is a 565-acre nature preserve and education center that is inspiring. The beauty of its woodlands, wetlands and old-field habitats as well as the diversity of the wildlife it attracts cannot be denied, but its history is also worth noting.

Before the Civil War, the property was part of a large plantation that continued to be a working farm in post Civil War years, producing crops, such as peanuts, sweet potatoes and corn, and raising livestock, such as cattle, hogs and horses. By the time Ed and Betty Komarek purchased the 565-acre Birdsong Plantation in 1938, the land was completely worn out. The Komareks began renewing the worn-out fields, using what were at that time new methods of prescribed burning, cover crops, and crop rotations and creating pasture for a livestock farm. They set aside natural areas for wildlife by landscaping the six acres around their house with plants that produced year-round flowers and berries to attract a variety of birds, insects, and butterflies.

From the beginning, people as well as wildlife flocked to the bird feeders and gardens of Birdsong. A double window in the dining area provided a limited view of the lushly landscaped feeder area – previously a barren chicken yard. In 1958, the Komareks replaced it with a large plate-glass “bird window” to facilitate the viewing pleasure of their visitors.

The kitchen and adjacent bird-watching window were the sites of frequent visits and meetings. Scientists and naturalists from around the world, attracted to the south Georgia woods by the pioneering activities in fire experimentation and wildlife management being implemented by plantation properties in the area, often stayed at the adjacent Stoddard’s Sherwood Plantation and took their meals at the Komareks’ Birdsong. The creation of Tall Timbers Research Station in 1958 as an experimental station for ecological research and study grew from these scientific visits and discussions. Research and the fire conferences sponsored by Tall Timbers have changed the nation’s thinking about the role of fire in the environment. (more…)

 By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

Bring your mountain bike and enjoy the more than 17 miles of biking and hiking trails at Dauset Trails Nature Center. 

You’ll discover more than 1,200 scenic acres where you can enjoy nature in a peaceful, family-oriented setting of streams, creeks, lakes, fields, gardens and wildlife at Dauset Trails Nature Center in Jackson.

You’ll see mammals, birds of prey, reptiles and amphibians that are native to Georgia—black bear, osprey, red fox, coyote, river otter and red-tailed hawk to name a few.

Children will particularly like the Farm Animals area with its rustic barn, a variety of farm animals, old farming equipment, tools and wagons. Walk along the Woodland Garden Trail to see native azaleas and woodland wildflowers or through the Children’s Garden to see perennials and a knot garden. Lotus, water lily, goldfish and other aquatic wildlife can be found in the Lotus Pond. (more…)

 By SHERRI SMITH BROWN

A river otter is just one of the many animals that kids will spot living in the wetlands at the Newman Wetlands Center.

What is your watershed address? That is a major question at the 32-acre Newman Wetlands Center in Clayton County. The wetlands center, which sits on a ridge that divides the Flint River Watershed from the Ocmulgee, is an excellent facility for teaching children and adults alike the importance of wetlands in a watershed. Here you can learn about the characteristics, wildlife and plants in a wetland as well as how to preserve these environments.

In the central exhibit area, you can watch a video on wetlands and see displays on the water cycle, watersheds, wetland wildlife, wildflowers, common wetland plants, wetland soils and wading birds. You can test your wetland I.Q., learn how wetlands purify and filter water and how they provide a place to raise the young of migratory birds and other wildlife. Children will especially enjoy wandering along the .5-mile wetlands trail, where more than 130 bird species have been identified. Beaver, river otter, fox, raccoon, muskrat, deer, wild turkey, opossum, mink and many species of reptiles, insects and amphibians all live here. More than likely, you will spot a number of them. (more…)