• ATV Family Ride Park
• Bike Trails
• Boat Ramps (Ogeechee River)
• Dukes Pond
• Hanging Rocks Plantation
• Magnolia Springs State Park
• Ogeechee River

MAGNOLIA SPRINGS STATE PARK:

Jenkins County is home to one of Georgia's most beautiful state parks.   Magnolia Springs State Park is known for its crystal clear springs that flow at an estimated nine million gallons of water per day and the boardwalk which spans the cool water along the natural spring interpretive boardwalk.  During warmer months, visitors may watch for alligators, turtles and other wildlife near the springs.  The 1,070-acre park attracts over 100,000 visitors annually and includes playgrounds, a swimming pool, a lake, picnic shelters, campsites, cottages, and meeting rooms. 

The park includes a  number of hiking/biking trails.  Private boats are allowed and fishing boats and canoes are available for rent.  A number of annual events take place at Magnolia including:

• Square Dance Weekend (March)
• Children's Fishing Rodeo (June)
• 8K Cross-country Run (November)
• Heritage Festival (December)

The Bo Ginn Aquarium is located across the stream from the main park area.  It features a variety of fish (catfish, bass, sunfish) and reptiles (turtles, alligators), some native to the freshwater streams, lakes, and swamps of Georgia.  Fishing rodeos are available for youth groups.  Aquarium tours and interpretive programs are also available. For more information visit www.gastateparks.org.

Magnolia Springs State Park is also home to the National Register of Historic Places listed Fort Lawton. Click here for more information about this historic site. 

Big Dukes Pond Heritage Preserve (BDPHP) is a Carolina Bay, a wetland found along the Atlantic Costal Plain that has an oval shape and a raised sand rim along the south and east margins.  Dukes Pond provides habitat for one of Georgia's largest breeding colonies of wood stork, a federally listed rare species.  It also provides a habitat for the rare black-crowned night-heron and yellow-crowned night-heron, as well as the state-protected spotted turtle.  Rare or uncommon plant species can also be found on the site.  BDPHP covers about 1200 acres.  It was declared a Heritage Preserve@ by Governor Sonny Perdue in January 2004, ensuring that the property will be conserved for wildlife habitat management, scientific research, environmental education, historic preservation, hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. An informational kiosk at the site provides additional information.

The Ogeechee River, the longest river in Georgia to keep its name throughout its course, runs through Jenkins County.  For those who enjoy the outdoors, it can be a never-ending source of pleasure.  It begins as two small streams between Siloam and Union Point in Eastern Greene County.  These streams merge just south of I-20 to form the Ogeechee River.  The river then flows 245 miles through east Central Georgia until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean north of Ossabaw Island. 

The Ogeechee is one of Georgia's few remaining free flowing streams.  This blackwater river, for the most part, remains in its natural, primitive state. 

It is popular with canoeists exploring the river and its swamps; with fishermen seeking the red breast, suckers, shad, rock crappie, bass, shellcracker and catfish; with ministers baptizing believers; and with children enjoying natural swimming holes.  The swamps and bottomland hardwoods adjoining the river provide food, water, and shelter to a rich variety of birds and wildlife and trees and other vegetation, including rare plants.  Water snakes and alligators are quite common.

Public access to river is available at the Bull Hole located in the Herndon Community, Scarboro Landing located in the Scarboro Community, and Highway 25 landing located on the south side of Highway 25.

Fishing and recreational opportunities can be enjoyed on the Ogeechee River year-round. There are currently four (4) publicly accessible boat ramps in Jenkins County.

They are located at:

1. U.S Hwy 25 Ramp - located on U.S. Highway 25 South
2. Old Hwy 80 Ramp - located on Old Hwy 80 Road
3. Scarboro Ramp - located just off GA Highway 17 South in the Scarboro Community
4. Bullhole Herndon Ramp - located on Herndon Road

Drop by the Millen/Jenkins Chamber of Commerce for directions and a map.

State Bicycle #85, "The Savannah River Run" goes through Jenkins County from the Screven County line to the Burke County line.  The 314 mile route goes from North Carolina to Savannah.  In the near future when the widening project on SR 25 is completed between Augusta and Statesboro there will be a bike lane from Millen to Magnolia Springs State Park.

An interesting attraction on SR 23 about five miles from Millen is a natural  outcropping of hanging rocks located on Hanging Rocks Plantation, a hunting preserve.  A ledge of rock along a hillside that rises some 20 to 25 feet above the earth, makes a picturesque scene, overlooking a beautiful pond.  Underneath the rock is clay that has eroded over a period of time, leaving the rock extended into space.  Indians once lived in, around, and on the rocks.  Artifacts and signs indicate that an Indian village was once located there, probably as late as the 1700's, when they traded their land to the English.  Geologists from California studied the rocks in the 1980's.  They determined that the rock formation is a "fault" from an earthquake that it pushed up to the surface from a depth of about 200 feet. They also determined that there has been no movement for maybe millions of years and probably there is no danger from further movement.