Georgia State Parks

Major State Park Proposed for South Georgia

Proposed Development

A park was originally proposed at the site of Glory Hole Caverns by a feasibility study done for the Southwest Georgia Area Planning & Development Commission in May, 1966. However, the proposal was too limited in its concept and scope: area residents had little enthusiasm for such a limited project, despite its potential and the State boys in Atlanta had even less interest.

Shortly thereafter, Robert Earl Woodham conceived the idea of a major state park in the area that would encompass ALL the natural wonders of northern Grady County. He envisioned a park that would feature fantastically beautiful caverns and spectacular waterfalls unique to America's coastal plains as well as facilities equal to the state parks at Stone Mountain, Jekyll Island and Lanier Islands.

Woodham spent a considerable amount of time and effort to research and write a comprehensive development plan for a major state park to include all of the natural wonders in the area, as well as gardens, campgrounds, a convention center, a Southern ante-bellum village, an early 1800's working farm, beaches, recreation facilities, golf course and other attractions.

The following section gives some details of the proposed state park development and the additional nearby sites of Climax Caverns and Open Pond.

Southern farm ca 1820-1860

A reconstruction of a Southern farm of the period 1820-1860 should be developed that is fully functional, including a home, outbuildings, barns and antiques. This would be an operating farm, not just a showcase museum. A similar site has been developed in Tifton, Georgia for the 1880's period.

Existing buildings from the Deep South could be brought to the park and restored to their original appearance. Other buildings would be recreated to match pioneer facilities. The farm would feature an operating sugar cane mill, grist mill, cotton gin, turpentine still and other Deep South farm operations.

Crops would be raised on the farm on a regular basis to show farming practices during the 1820-1860 period. Row crops would be tilled with oxen and horses and farm tools of the period. A large vegetable garden would be planted year-round. Tours of the home, barns, animal yards, crop fields and vegetable gardens would be offered.

Food crops raised on the farm would be consumed by restaurants in the park. Some crops grown on the farm could be marketed in the park's village stores under a park brand name similar to programs at Callaway Gardens and other tourist attractions. -- peanuts, tiny souvenir cotton bales, pickles, fruit jams and preserves,

The farm would be stocked with oxen, cattle, chickens, horses and hogs and these farm animals would be an additional attraction for city kids who have never seen farm animals in person. Stock raised on the farm could be used by the restaurants in the park.

Gardens

A vast gardens should be developed with no less than 3,000 acres reserved solely for gardens alone. The park should specialize in flowers, shrubs and trees native to Dixie, along the lines of famous Callaway Gardens. The gardens would have both walking trails and winding drives. In addition to the gardens area, the entire park would be landscaped similar to Callaway gardens.

Southwest Georgia's first pioneers found this area covered with palmetto palms, huge stately live oaks, magnolias, cypress and pines so tall they tickled the underbelly of heaven. The last palmettos were stripped decades ago and only a handful of large live oaks are left now. Palms and live oaks should be featured in park landscaping not only for their beauty but also to emphasize the semi-tropical climate of the area. After all, the metropolitan area of Florida's capitol borders this county!!

Our area was once a spring-time garden of eden with colorful blooms of native azaleas, other blooming flowers and trees. They have been all but wiped out in this area due to wide-spread forest clearance for farming. Callaway Gardens has become nationally famous for having the largest collection in America of native azaleas; they also specialize in other native plants.

The gardens in this park could be equally as famous and attract a like number of visitors if it is developed like those at Callaway Gardens. As with Callaway, the surrounding open, treeless fields in the park area could be restored to forested areas and planted with large numbers of live oak and other hardwoods, palms and blooming plants. Several miles of walking, biking and horseback trails would encompass the entire park area, passing through garden areas as they connect each natural wonder area. Paved roads would also provide visitors the opportunity to drive throughout the gardens.

Even the proposed golf course should be heavily landscaped, to make it just as attractive and popular as the famous courses at Augusta National, Southern Pines and other Southern sites.

A major adjunct to the gardens should be a sizeable nursery. This operation would grow shrubs, trees and annual flowers for not only this park but all other state parks and highways in the southern part of the state. It should include large greenhouses to start seedlings and to begin blooming annuals early for outdoor use.

Southern Village ca 1820-1860

A reconstruction of a Deep South village of the 1820-1860 period should be developed, complete with operating stores, blacksmith shop, stagecoach inn and other facilities to illustrate our ancestor's lives in pioneer days. A good example of the type facility envisioned is that which has been developed at Westville, a now famous recreated village of the 1850's at Lumpkin, Georgia.

The village should include such businesses and stores as a blacksmith shop, cobbler's shop, several general stores, stagecoach inn with restaurant, carpenter's shop, millinery and dress shops, town hall and a Museum of Southern Rural Life. The village would include log cabin homes (with modern amenities) which would be available for visitors as lodging in addition to the main park lodge (see lodging below).

The village would also feature a working cane grinding mill and syrup mill; a grist mill; a cotton gin and other pioneer operations. Grain ground at the mill and syrup made in the village could be sold under a special brand name in village stores.

The stagecoach inn could also serve as a transportation center for tour buses that would carry visitors to sites within the park and to the nearby Climax Caverns State Park area.

Read more about the village under the Blowing Cave site. Click on "Blowing Cave" in the main index on the HOME page.

Beaches

Beaches would be developed on at least two of the small lakes built to ensure adequate water for the three waterfalls. These could and should be equal to the man-made lakes and beaches at Stone Mountain and Callaway Gardens. Pure white sand could be hauled in from the nearby Florida coast to create beaches along the lake shores.

The beaches would offer bathhouses, picnic sheds and tables, parking areas and visitor centers for ticket sales, eating accommodations and souvenirs, etc.

Campgrounds

Several campground sites should be developed throughout the park, including near Hawthorne Falls, Forest Falls and Ochlocknee Falls. Nature trails and gardens should be near each camping area. Facilities should include accommodations for RV's or motor homes as well as wilderness camping.

A visitor center to control access, rent sites, etc. should be at the entrance of each camping area. Each type should include bathhouses, picnic areas and recreational facilities such as lighted tennis courts, playgrounds, swimming pools and play fields.

Lodging

Lodge facilities of a size and quality similar to those at the Alabama resort state parks (Eufaula), and at Stone Mountain, Lake Lanier and Jekyll Island in Georgia for example should be developed to accommodate visitors. The main lodge should have an architecture and theme reflecting the Deep South of 1820 to 1860 -- definitely NOT modern architecture.

In addition, a "village" of log cabin homes should be developed for vacationers. The buildings' appearance should reflect the pioneer period of Georgia in keeping with that of the pioneer village. They would have modern amenities but their furnishings and general looks should provide visitors with a feeling of what type homes their ancestors lived in 150 years ago.

Convention Center

Convention facilities should be developed in the lodge area to attract state, regional and national conventions, family reunions and other gatherings. The convention center should be of a size and quality equal to those at Stone Mountain and Jekyll Island. It should include a convention auditorium as well as open meeting halls that could also be used for trade shows, parties and large gatherings.

Golf courses

A major and unique golf course should be developed, similar to those built by Alabama in several of its state parks and resort golf courses. It should feature palm trees and large sections of blooming shrubs to showcase the fact this area's pleasant semi-tropical climate is just like that of north Florida, which adjoins this county. It should be backed up later by a second course.

The landscaping should be extravagant, with palms and a mixture of flowers that bloom year-round. The more flowers and trees, the better the appearance and the better the chance this course can compete in popularity with such courses as Augusta National, Southern Pines and others in Dixie.

Recreation facilities

Recreation facilities should be developed near each of the campground areas and the lodging area, including lighted tennis courts, play fields, children's playgrounds, mini-golf, swimming pools and other outdoor activities. An indoor heated pool should be developed at the lodge for cool weather such as that at Jekyll Island. These facilities should be developed with the same tasteful quality as those at Callaway Gardens and several of Alabama's resort state parks.

History Museum

One of the main attractions in the village area should be a Museum of Southern Rural Life, featuring the period from about 1800 to 1860. Antique items from this period should be collected for the museum and reproductions of other items should be recreated. The museum should show what everyday life was like for folk on the southeastern frontier in the 1820's and how it progressed up to 1860. See the special section on the Museum. Go to the Home page and click on "Museum of Southern Pioneer Life".

See also the section on a proposed "American Museum of Speleology" on a separate page. This museum would be a museum telling about caverns of the world and could become a focal point for research and study of speleology.

Amphitheater

An amphitheater should be developed in the sink area to the east and above Forest Falls. This site is a natural amphitheater already, with the walls of the sink rising slightly in a semi-circle. The site could be developed initially for seating 1,000 and later up to 5,000 spectators. The facility could be used for convention activities, outdoor plays, concerts and other spectator activities.

A special play should be commissioned centered around the pioneer period of our region. This play would be performed outdoors in the amphitheater during warm months and in the Blowing Cave village theater during cold or rainy periods. It should be on a scale equal to the famous "Unto These Hills" play at Cherokee, NC and our official State Play written for Colquitt, Georgia and which became the official Olympics play in Atlanta.

Famous performers could be booked during peak tourist season for the amphitheater. Local talent should also be displayed and encouraged.

A special outdoor Christmas pageant could also be developed in hand with special park decorations during the holiday season -- similar to the celebrations held at Callaway Gardens and other similar attractions.

Parkway

A multi-lane parkway would replace the existing two-lane highway through the park area. Palms and live oaks should be planted in large amounts all along the route to let visitors know they are definitely in semi-tropical country. After all, Florida is just down the road in the next county! We should emphasize the semi-tropical effect with as many palms and other plantings as possible. Other flowering trees and shrubs should be added to provide colorful blooms for much of the year. This road would be a real "parkway" which could attract visitors just to drive along its scenic route. The entire route through the park area should be limited access with no commercial development allowed. That type development, private motels, chain restaurants, etc., should be reserved for outside the park area.

Caves

Caverns at Glory Hole and Ochlochnee Falls would be tastefully developed and opened for guided tours. Great deference must be made to the delicacy of these two caves and the formations they contain. Their development should be of the same quality of other state and National Parks Department cave developments. Trails would lead into the most accessible areas of both caves where lighting would allow visitors to see the wonderful calcite formations and fossils.

Waterfalls

Forest Falls and Ochlochnee Falls would become major attractions of the park. The sink at Forest Falls would be cleaned out and the 110 to 120 foot waterfall restored to its former glory. The falls at Hawthorne Falls would also be cleaned out and these falls restored.

Each of the waterfalls would become major scenic areas. All three waterfall sites would be surrounded by viewing areas. The sinks would be surrounded by protective rustic rail and rock fences. Walking trails would surround the sites. Arbors - sheds would be spaced along the trails at Forest Falls.

At Forest Falls, steps would lead down to the bottom of the sink so visitors could view the waterfalls at its base and see the cavern where the water disappears into. The bottom of the sink would be landscaped with native ferns, native azaleas and other shrubs and palmettos to recreate the site's original lush natural setting.

The streams which supply the water for the three waterfalls are all very small and short in distance. That at Hawthorne Falls completely disappears during drought periods. Small ponds would be impounded upstream from each falls area to ensure an adequate supply of water. The water flow could be controlled for various times of the day (slowed down at late night, for instance).

Forest Falls would have a large picnic area near the sink as well as a large campground.

Climax Caverns

Climax Caverns would offer guided tours on at least two miles of walking trails, making it one of the South's largest caverns trail system open to the public. This cave has many very large rooms, some covering more than the size of a football field. Numerous small pools of sparkling clear water are scattered throughout the cave at the water table level.

Open Pond

Open Pond would be developed as a part of the state park area around Climax Caverns. It is one of the largest natural lakes in Georgia. The lake is fed by underground springs and the water is normally fairly clear but has been deteriorating for many years because of underwater grass growth. Without human intervention, this natural lake will eventually fill in and die.

The site is ideal for swimming and beach development - the southern end of the site has natural white sand.

To increase the quality of the site, siltation from surrounding fields would be halted. New palms, oaks and other native trees would be planted to restore the site to its once lush sub-tropical setting.

Just to name a few attractions!

Support development of Ochlocknee Caverns & Falls State Park

These natural wonders need your help. If you appreciate Mother Nature's gifts, then urge your state senator, state representative and Governor Perdue to create a major park for this area so these natural wonders can be preserved and restored to their original splendor.

Visit the separate websites for each of the different natural wonders for photos of the sites and more on their descriptions.

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July 1999