Altama Plantation, the 4,000-acre nature preserve outside Brunswick which opened to the public a year ago, is fast becoming one of the Georgia coast’s most popular wildlife destinations.
Once the playground of wealthy Northern industrialists and Atlanta elites, the plantation was bought by the state, the Nature Conservancy, the federal government and private donors.
Today, hikers, bikers, birders and kayakers wend through the old rice plantation’s canals, dikes, oaks, magnolias and cypress. Two stately homes, an English Regency garden and the ruins of a circa 1820s sugar refinery harken to a bygone era bordering the Altamaha River and Interstate 95.
Altama is also a key piece in the state’s plans to stitch together a 120-mile-long wildlife corridor joining the Okefenokee Swamp and Fort Stewart. 2017 could see the addition of another huge chunk – the 20,000-acre Sansavilla Tract upriver from Altama – to the corridor.
Check out these current and historic photos of Altama: http: www.myajc.com/news/state—regional-govt—politics/photos-georgia-wildlife-corridor/naUZQ3FV8FBtX1uxH78X1O/#WopjZHYxTAyhSX4Rs1iZNw
