Jekyll Island State Park

Trails and Tap Takes a Trip to Jekyll Island

This article is not our typical one. Instead of a hike and brewery, this is about our family trip to Jekyll Island – the entire Trails and Tap team was together. But don’t click away if you are only looking for the typical Trails and Tap content! This is more than just a vacation recap – this is a beach trip with an outdoorsy person’s spin!

Jekyll Island is a barrier island off the coast of Georgia. In 1950, the Jekyll Island State Park Authority was established by the State of Georgia to govern and manage the island. The Jekyll Island Authority serves as steward of the island, overseeing all natural areas and commercial operations of the island. Since the Georgia State Legislature established the island as a state park, this article falls into our Georgia State Parks category.

Jesse and I stayed at the Jekyll Island Campground, which is located on the north end of the island. We booked the campsite back in February and even then, there wasn’t a lot of availability. This was our first time taking our camper on a trip, and we were lucky to get a pull-through campsite. There are many “hit and miss” reviews about this campground. Here are some things about the campground that we experienced on our trip:

• The camp sites are extremely close together. That being said, I feel like we still had enough room in our site.
• The booking process was fairly normal, except you can pay extra to “lock in” your site that you picked out. I have never experienced this before at any campground. I think this place knows it is the only campground on the island, and it takes advantage of that. I did not pay to lock in the site. We still were able to have a pull-through, and that was more important to us than location.
• The campground does not allow clothesline on campsites. I thought this was odd, but maybe it is because of how close the sites are together.
• Dogs are allowed at the campground for an additional fee, but I’m not sure how hard and fast that is enforced.
• The campground is located a bit inland, not right on any beach. The closest beach is Driftwood Beach, which is a bucket list location for Jekyll! Even so, I probably wouldn’t set up my beach chairs for the day at Driftwood. There are plenty of extremely nice beach parks along the coastal side of the island. We spent some time at Oceanview Beach Park, which was a five-minute drive from the campground.

I would stay at this campground again! I grew up camping at the beach. I would prefer to walk to the beach, but a short drive is ok! If you are trying to go to the beach on a budget, then camping is always a great option – the campground sites were $51 a night for June dates.

We also encountered quite a bit of rain on this trip. We stayed Monday-Friday, and our only sunny day was Tuesday, which was our only full beach day. Thursday we were able to go to the beach for about an hour and a half before the rain came back. Fortunately, there is plenty to do at Jekyll on rainy days.

On Wednesday, we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. This is a must visit for the island. The Sea Turtle Center is a rehab center for sea turtles and other native turtles to the area. Admission to the center was $25 for Jesse and me. This is worth going to if you love wildlife!

The Sea Turtle Center is located in the historic district on the island. This is where the historic Jekyll Island Club is located. The Jekyll Island Club’s old facility buildings have been preserved and are now little shops. We had ice cream from the Island Sweets Shoppe and $3 beers (woohoo!) at Doc’s Snack Shop.

After the historic district, we drove to Horton Pond. This is located right off of Beachview Drive, just a few minutes away from the campground. At the pond, there is an observation deck where you can see alligators, birds, and turtles. We were only there for a few minutes, but we did see an alligator, so it was worth it!

That same day, we also went fishing at the pier. If you don’t have a pole with you, rentals are available at the bait shop (just $15 for 24 hours per pole). Unfortunately, we did not catch anything – only a few bites. Even if you aren’t into fishing, the pier is worth a visit. While we were there, we spotted dolphins, a loggerhead sea turtle, and a stingray swimming right at the surface!

Another thing that is awesome about Jekyll are the bike trails. There are bike trails all over the island, which are mainly flat and are well maintained. We rode our bikes on a marsh trail near the pier and then up the north end of the island starting from the campground. This is a great way to see wildlife and historic sites on the island.

Where did we drink? Besides Doc’s Snack Shop, we found a few other places that serve a good drink. One night we ate dinner at the Beach House, which is a restaurant and tap room. They had plenty of Georgia beers on tap, such as Coastal Empire, Georgia Beer Co., Jekyll Brewing (which is located in Alpharetta GA, by the way – we would’ve visited if it was on the island!), Terrapin, Pretoria, and Silver Bluff, just to name a few. Jesse and I took a different route this time and ordered their banana margaritas! I definitely recommend this cocktail. It wasn’t too sweet or too tequila-strong. It was a perfect beach drink.

We also went to the Wee Pub. This Irish pub is located in the Village area of the island. We actually visited this place twice! First of all, they have a bread pudding that is to die for. There is a large bar there with a huge drink list to choose from. They also have daiquiris and coladas. The first time there, Jesse tried a Pineapple Habanero Hop Dang from Jekyll Brewing, which is an IPA with a sweet and spicy twist. I tried a Kopparberg strawberry lime cider. All of us loved our drinks.

The last place to grab a quick drink that I wanted to share was at the Jekyll Island Market. This is a grocery store that is so much more than just groceries! Souvenirs, BBQ, ice-cream, deserts, a few beers on tap, and so much more are in this store. I definitely recommend stopping in. Towards the back of the store is a little bar counter. Jesse and I got a blonde ale from Georgia Beer Company called Blueberry Field Party. I am picky about blueberry flavored things – but this beer was actually pretty good!

This trip to Jekyll was great. There is something for everyone there – great beaches, yummy food and drinks, wildlife, shopping, and more. This was my fourth visit to Jekyll, and I look forward to visiting again!

Happy Trails,
Trails and Tap

Tips for your trip:

• If you are camping, BRING BUG SPRAY! The campground reminds me of a jungle. There isn’t much of a breeze to blow the bugs away. We used a Thermacell E55 Rechargeable Mosquito Repeller.
• Constantly be on the lookout for wildlife – animals are everywhere on the island!
• Bring a bicycle! If you don’t have one, there are rental companies all over the island. Your bike can take you places a car can’t!
• Visit Driftwood Beach.
• The best place we found to watch a sunset was the pier!