Okefenokee Swamp

The young people of Waycross, Georgia, are next-door neighbors to a legend. They take overnight camping trips into the Okefenokee Swamp, and paddle their canoes down the Suwannee River for a change of pace. The swamp, “Land of the Trembling Earth,” is just a few minutes’ drive from the ward chapel.

Okefenokee’s 700 square miles of swamp, lakes, floating islands, and cyprus forests harbor alligators, bears, deer, otters, bobcats, and many species of fish and birds. From its depths flow the beautiful root-beer-colored waters of the Suwannee River.

Most of the Aaronic Priesthood-age youth have been into the heart of the swamp on quorum outings, have seen its water lillies, have heard the bellowing of bull alligators and the cry of waterbirds, and have seen the moon caught in its pine trees. Today there is only enough time for a visit to the welcome center, time enough to walk a few feet along the swamp’s edge on the boardwalk, to visit a replica pioneer village, to climb the observation tower, to ogle a few alligators, and to watch the sun go down behind the moss-hung cyprus trees. Tomorrow, or next week, or sometime soon, there will be time for more.

Photos by Melvin Leavitt