A look at Georgia's National Parks

Travel

Photos: A look at Georgia's National Parks, Historic Sites, National Monuments and more, Feb. 2013.

Camp Sumter in Andersonville, Ga., was among the Confederacy's largest Civil War military prisons. Of the over 45,000 Union soldiers held there, nearly 13,000 died in captivity. Now the site stands as a memorial to all American prisoners of war. To reach the main entrance of the park please use the following address: 760 POW Road, Andersonville, GA 31711. -- Information from NPS.gov

At 2,184 miles long, the Appalachian Trail winds a scenic footpath from Georgia to Maine through the Appalachian Mountains. Only about 80 miles of the Trail run through Georgia, where the AT begins at Springer Mountain and leaves the state at Bly Gap. Download a printable copy of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail Official Brochure Map here: http://www.nps.gov/appa/planyourvisit/upload/APPA%20Map.pdf -- Information from NPS.gov and GeorgiaTrails.com

From NPS.gov: "For millions of years, granite monadnocks have stood watch over the rivers and forests of Georgia. These breathtaking landscapes are the cornerstones of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area [in Lithonia], which serves to protect and promote these outcrops and the surrounding region as a recreational wonder and national treasure." For more information, including directions, visit http://www.nps.gov/armo/planyourvisit/directions.htm.

The Augusta Canal remains one of the only intact, functioning 19th-century American industrial power canal systems. During its primary operating years, it utilized the Savannah River to power mills, factories and, during the Civil War, was crucial in powering the Confederate Powder Works. To reach the Canal Interpretive Center please use the following address: 1450 Greene Street, Augusta, from Interstate 20, Exit 200 Riverwatch Parkway -- Information from NPS.gov

Starting in the North Georgia mountains, the Chattahoochee River makes its (mostly) leisurely way through the Atlanta area, heading southwest along the state's Fall Line toward Columbus, where it forms the Alabama-Georgia border, eventually emptying into Lake Seminole near Bainbridge, Ga. to form the Apalachicola River flowing into Florida. But Atlantans and Georgians enjoy "The Hooch" as a local getaway for hikes, fishing, rafting and other outdoor activities. To reach the Island Ford Visitor Contact Station please use the following address and latitude/longitude coordinates for most accurate directions: 1978 Island Ford Parkway, Sandy Springs, Georgia 30350 (DMS: 33° 59' 40.64" N / 84°20'2.16"W; DegDec 33.9946222222222 -84.3339333333333) -- Information from NPS.gov

The right hand of the Drummer Boy is missing at the Ohio Monument on Missionary Ridge near the Chickamauga Battlefield of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. As the Civil War raged in 1863, the Tennessee-Georgia border saw two crucial battles at Chickamauga in Georgia and later in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Though the Confederates won Chickamauga, Union forces were victorious in Chattanooga. To reach the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center, please use the following address: 3370 LaFayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742. To reach the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center, please use the following address: 110 Point Park Road, Lookout Mountain, TN 37350. -- Information from NPS.gov

Home to over 9.800 acres of Congressionally designated wilderness, Cumberland Island is Georgia's largest and southernmost barrier island. It's the perfect place to reconnect with nature with its maritime forests, undeveloped beaches and marshes. To reach the Cumberland Island Visitor Center, please use the following address: 113 St. Marys Street St Marys, GA 31558. -- Information from NPS.gov

Georgia's fate was decided in 1742 when Spanish and British forces clashed on St. Simons Island. Fort Frederica's troops defeated the Spanish, ensuring Georgia's future as a British colony. For directions to Fort Frederica, please visit the National Park Service's website: http://www.nps.gov/fofr/planyourvisit/directions.htm. -- Information and text from NPS.gov

Visit Fort Pulaski National Monument at the right time, and you can see demonstrations of canon and musket fire. The fort, about midway between Savannah and Tybee Island on U.S. 80, played a pivotal role in the Civil War. Because its walls were breached by new weapons, long-range rifled cannons, and its troops forced to surrender, masonry fortifications were doomed. For directions to Fort Pulaski, please visit the National Park Service's website: http://www.nps.gov/fopu/planyourvisit/directions.htm. -- Information from NPS.gov

The Gullah community still lives off the land and ocean, weaving baskets and concocting dishes of smoked rice and okra, in Hog Hammock, Ga., a hamlet on Sapelo Island, one of the state's barrier islands. Designated by Congress in 2006, the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor extends from Wilmington, North Carolina in the north to Jacksonville, Florida in the south. It is home to one of America's most unique cultures, a tradition first shaped by captive Africans brought to the southern United States from West Africa and continued in later generations by their descendents. For a downloadable map of the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, please visit the National Park Service's website: http://www.nps.gov/guge/planyourvisit/upload/Map.pdf. -- Information and text from NPS.gov

Many visitors are drawn to downtown Plains, Ga., to see where former President Jimmy Carter grew up. Few U.S. Presidents have had such close ties with where they were born and raised. The rural southern culture of Plains that revolves around farming, church and school, had a large influence in molding the character and in shaping the political policies of the 39th President of the United States. For directions to the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, Ga., please visit the National Park Service's website: http://www.nps.gov/jica/planyourvisit/directions.htm. -- Information and text from NPS.gov

The Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park stands as more than a scenic memorial to one of the Civil War's defining battles. It was the most-visited battlefield site in the nation in 2012, surpassing Gettysburg for the year. The park is a 2,923 acre National Battlefield that preserves a Civil War battleground of the Atlanta Campaign. Opposing forces maneuvered and fought here from June 19, 1864 until July 2, 1864. For directions to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, please visit the National Park Service's website: http://www.nps.gov/kemo/planyourvisit/directions.htm. -- Information and text from NPS.gov

Visitors walk up the front steps of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth home at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15, 1929 at 501 Auburn Avenue, the home of his maternal grandparents. For the next twelve years he lived here with his grandparents, parents, siblings, other family members and boarders. For directions to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, please visit the National Park Service's website: http://www.nps.gov/malu/planyourvisit/directions.htm. -- Information and text from NPS.gov

A vacationing family heads toward one of the mounds at the Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon. Artifacts dating back 12,000 years have been found at the site. Native Americans first came here during the Paleo-Indian period hunting Ice Age mammals. Different cultures occupied this land for thousands of years. The Mississippian culture arrived here around 900 constructing mounds for their elite. For directions to the Ocmulgee National Monument, please visit the National Park Service's website: http://www.nps.gov/ocmu/planyourvisit/directions.htm. -- Information and text from NPS.gov

The Cherokee Council House at New Echota State Park is part of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Sites along the Trail are preserved to remember and commemorate the survival of the Cherokee people, forcefully removed from their homelands in Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee to live in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. They traveled by foot, horse, wagon, or steamboat in 1838-1839. To locate sites along the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, please visit the National Park Service's website: http://www.nps.gov/trte/planyourvisit/index.htm. -- Information and text from NPS.gov

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Camp Sumter in Andersonville, Ga., was among the Confederacy's largest Civil War military prisons. Of the over 45,000 Union soldiers held there, nearly 13,000 died in captivity. Now the site stands as a memorial to all American prisoners of war. To reach the main entrance of the park please use the following address: 760 POW Road, Andersonville, GA 31711. -- Information from NPS.gov

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