Magnolia Midlands

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Taste a slower, simpler lifestyle along the back roads of Georgia with a visit to the Magnolia Midlands in southeastern Georgia. The region provides a backdrop of beautiful scenery for any adventure you might seek, from outdoor sports to local festivals, from great food to a rich agricultural history.

The Altamaha River has been designated by The Nature Conservancy as one of the 75 “Last Great Places” in the world. Explore this magnificent ecosystem with over 130 rare and endangered species on your own or with local outfitters and guides.

Admire artwork or take in a show at the David H. Averitt Center for the Arts in downtown Statesboro. The Averitt Center, home of the Emma Kelly Theater, was created to provide a venue for community arts activities and performances while serving as a centerpiece for a vibrant historic downtown.

At the Center for Wildlife Education and the Lamar Q. Ball Jr. Raptor Center at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, tour through habitats including a wetlands area, an oldgrowth forest and a mountain display to view Georgia’s native raptors in their natural environments.

The many festivals held throughout the region hold something for everyone. Among the bestknown is the National Barbecue Festival in Douglas, which combines a search for “The Best of the Best” with an indoor yard sale and gallery of barbecue art. Dublin celebrates “a wee bit of Ireland in Georgia” with its annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival, and the annual Vidalia Onion festival honors Georgia’s official vegetable with a five-day festival each spring.

Learn about agricultural history at General Coffee State Park’s Heritage Farm, with log cabins, a corn crib, tobacco barn, cane mill, barnyard animals and other exhibits. Seventeen-Mile River winds through a cypress swamp teeming with rare and endangered plants. 

Jay Bird Springs was developed in the early 1900s as a medicinal spa. Home to the first public swimming pool in Georgia, Jay Bird Springs still has a swimming pool filled with natural spring mineral water and a 350-foot water slide. 

Little Ocmulgee State Park offers a wide array of activities. Golfers can test their skills on the 18-hold Wallace Adams Course; boaters and anglers will enjoy the 265-acre lake; and the Oak Ridge trail offers miles of hiking trails and natural beauty. 

Taste away at Meinhardt Vineyards & Winery in Statesboro, southeast Georgia’s first winery. The annual Labor Day Grape Stomp Festival is a rare chance to discover the sensation of stomping grapes in your bare feet.

Don’t miss a deal at the annual “Peaches to the Beaches” Yard Sale along U.S. Highway 341 each March! Over a dozen communities along the road, and citizens in between, set up tables of treasures for bargain-hunters to browse.

Cool off at Splash in the Boro, a water park and aquatics center in Statesboro. Barrel down three waterslides, float around the Lazy River, fire the spray features in the play pool, and cross the lily pads in the leisure pool…or just enjoy swimming in the two lap pools.

The Wiregrass Trail along Highway 57, “Georgia’s Scenic Shortcut,” is the prettiest way to get from Macon to The Golden Isles. You’ll pass by antique stores and Revolutionary War sites, over glinting rivers and through historic coastal hamlets and family farms.

The historic Woodpecker Trail highlights the unique sites and attractions of the “real
Georgia” along U.S. Hwy 25/Georgia Hwy 121 from Augusta to the Okefenokee Swamp. This route, once billed as the shortest route to the coast, is a great way to see historical, nature-based and cultural sites and attractions.