Skidaway Island State Park hosts one of the best trail systems in the city of Savannah, Georgia. There are over 5 miles of trails here that weave through coastal forest, over salt marshes and alongside the Skidaway River- part of the intracoastal waterway running most of the lenghth of the eastern seaboard. Locals know this place as a natural sanctuary only 15 minutes from the urban sprawl of the city. Tourists also flock here for the camping, birding, wildlife and the serenity of the ancient live oaks. The island and the park are rich with Native American history, revolutionary war and civil war history, and even groundbreaking scientific discoveries. In the early 1820s a giant sloth was discovered in the narrows- the first giant sloth ever found in North America. Its discovery redefined the range of giant sloths and even caught the attention of Charles Darwin.
The route starts at the entry gate to the state park (before you get to the booth). The Nature and Walking Trail runs alongside the road here until you come to the visitor center where the giant lollipop of the route splits. If you go CW, you'll continue staight past the visitor center to get to the start of the Sandpiper Loop Trail. If you go CCW, you turn right by the little bridge near the playground. There is a trail that runs behind all the picnic areas here and will spit you back on the road for a minute before bringing you to the start of the Big Ferry Trail Loop. Basically, the route is a "redline" of all the trails. Between Sandpiper and Big Ferry are also the Avian Loop Trail and the Connecter Trail. Some of these require doubling up on parts of them where they loop around on themselves (Sandpiper, Avian and Big Ferry). I've included the spur out to the observation tower as it is one of the highlights of the trails. You should climb the tower, although it is closed at the moment for construction. If it is closed just bypass climbing it. Be sure to hit the "liquor still" loop off of Big Ferry. Also at the farthest reach of Big Ferry, near the earthworks, there is a short spur leading to a "trail end" sign. Be sure to tag that. This is a pretty straightforward route, getting all parts of all the trails at the park. I've done them all many times as a ranger at the park for a season, but also as just someone who lives in Savannah and has a state parks pass. Lots of folks are out walking and running these trails every day so it's hard to believe an FKT route hasn't been established here.
https://gastateparks.org/SkidawayIsland
