Donalsonville, GA
This park sits on the gigantic Lake Seminole reservoir which straddles the border of Georgia and Florida. The portion of the lake within and along the park is comparatively small but has some fascinating characteristics such as large fields of cattail bullrushes and waterlily pad fields on which coots and herons walk and feed. There are lots of speed boats (and even swamp fan boats) whizzing by in and out of the larger part of the lake the park connects to. The campground cottages of the park make a semicircle around the lake area and sit beside a large nature area called the Gopher Tortoise trail. You can tell you are southwards towards the gulf as the terrain is very sandy and full of wiregrass (and thus amenable to that signature reptile).
Kayaking (a portion of) Lake Seminole (37,500 acres)
Even though you only go on a small part of the large Lake Seminole reservoir from the park, it’s definitely a unique environment compared to northern Georgia lakes. Full of bullrushes and waterlilies, it is marked with boat pathways as there is lots of activity all along the way. I enjoyed going in the non-boating areas for a more quiet paddle through the tall grasses hearing various birds moving amongst it. I had hoped to get the chance to see some gators hanging out nearby as well but it did not seem to be the time of year for them to be out and visible.
