Twin City, GA
As soon as I arrived, I could see George L. Smith State Park would be something special. Beautiful pond cypresses with their funny bloated bases and stark needled leaves covered the lake area. The rest of the park has some short trails and picnicking as well camping areas that were in the middle of an upgrade. Also there is an old mill and bridge from the 1800s sitting right on the lake dam which you can walk across and fish behind. (I think it may once have been maintained as a museum but it was unfortunately a bit bare and junked at the time I was there.) But by far the highlight and reason the park gets high marks for me was the chance to kayak far back on the pond among the cypresses.
Kayaking Watson Pond (412 acres)
Kayaking on Watson Millpond was an absolute delight. While it starts with a bit of an open area at the start (making for some great pictures of cypresses reflecting on the water as seen above), you soon enter the back area heading up the river where you are in a dense thicket of trees which seem to stretch on forever. The park has several water trails marked by colored blazes along the way and they are crucial to navigating as you get towards the back. (I knew nothing about them but starting out a “guardian angel” on another kayak was harping on about them. A bit of a bother at the time but I would have been lost later without knowing to look for them!) I finally got to a point where I couldn’t even see any dry land. Egrets would suddenly fly out in large numbers overhead from among the dark tangle of branches as I continued on an ever narrowing path. I did grow a bit worried about getting stuck back in the dark and would definitely recommend starting early in the day if you want to follow the whole set of trails. But I truly enjoyed the paddle even though I was disappointed not to see any alligators.
