- Also spelled:
- Okefinokee
Okefenokee Swamp
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Okefenokee Swamp, vast swamp and wildlife refuge in southeastern Georgia and northern Florida. Okefenokee Swamp is one of the largest intact freshwater wetlands in North America and is renowned for its exceptional biodiversity, supporting hundreds of species of birds, reptiles, mammals, fish, and amphibians, including one of the largest populations of American alligators in the United States. It also features a number of ancient and largely undisturbed peat deposits, which serve as important carbon sinks and are a source of scientific information on environmental change. The swamp has long been important to Indigenous peoples, from whom its name is derived, and today is protected primarily within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for its natural significance in 2026.
The swamp’s name probably is derived from the Seminole word for “trembling earth,” so-called because of the floating islands of the swamp.
Flora and fauna
The Okefenokee Swamp includes low, sandy ridges, wet, grassy savannas, small islands (called hummocks) surrounded by marshes, and extensive “prairies,” or dark water areas covered by undergrowth and trees. Vegetation is dense in the swamp and includes giant tupelo and bald cypress trees festooned with Spanish moss, brush, and vines; where sandy soil is above the water, pine trees predominate. Meandering channels of open water form an intricate maze. Attractive flowers, among them floating hearts, lilies, and rare orchids, abound.
The swamp is populated with diverse wildlife, with about 175 species of birds, abundant amphibians, and at least 40 species of mammals, which include raccoons, black bears, white-tailed deer, bobcats, foxes, and otters. Alligators are also present. The swamp shelters a number of threatened or endangered species, including the wood stork, red-cockaded woodpecker, and indigo snake.
Physical geography and history
Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, saucer-shaped depression approximately 25 miles (40 km) wide and 40 miles (65 km) long and covers an area of more than 600 square miles (1,550 square km). Lying about 50 miles (80 km) inland from the Atlantic coast, the Okefenokee Swamp is bounded on the east by the low, sandy Trail Ridge, which prevents direct drainage into the Atlantic. The swamp is partially drained southward into the Atlantic by the Suwannee and St. Mary’s rivers. In 1937, 371,445 acres (150,319 hectares) of swampland, almost all in Georgia, were set aside as the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, with headquarters at Waycross, Georgia.