Okefenokee Swamp Park, Inc.
Okefenokee Swamp Park Master Plan
Waycross, GA
The Okefenokee Swamp Park is the northern most entry into the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge – home to the most extensive blackwater swamp in North America.
A one-of-a-kind park, which offers boat tours, educational opportunities, live alligators and other swamp natives, and exquisite views of the swamp from atop the observation tower, the Okefenokee Swamp Park is considered “the world’s window" to the Okefenokee Swamp. Developed in 1945 on Cowhouse Island, the Park was established to promote wildlife protection and propagation, forestry, and recreation. Not all of the 1,200 acres the non-profit Park subleases from the state is built-out, but boardwalks allow visitors to safely venture deeper into the Swamp past the main campus.
In February 2016, Lord Aeck Sargent began the first stages of Master Planning services with a series of visioning sessions. Those exercises led to The Okefenokee Swamp Park Visioning Report, released in June of that year, which outlines the outreach efforts along with a basic building assessment and recommendations from the Design Team based on their findings. In Spring 2018, LAS was contracted to complete the full development of the Master Plan including a fully rendered Master Plan, a complete project list and cost estimate.
The purpose of the master plan is to provide a plan of action for the Park and provide guidance for future improvements and management, which will add to the quality and diversity of uses for visitors in this unique corner of the world.
