Cumberland Island for 14

September 29, 2009 12:31 PM

Any tips/suggestions for Cumberland Island trip this weekend.

I'm going to Cumberland Island GA this weekend with 13 other people. We are all good friends, and have scheduled cooks/meals and other camping responsibilities. The "ask metafilter" seems full of people recommending CI, now what tips, suggestions, and do not miss do you have for this camping weekend.

posted by Classic Diner to sports, hobbies, & recreation (4 comments total)

Oh, you'll have so much fun! We went to Cumberland Island in April and had a blast. I really liked the tour of Dungeness (the "ruins") and the marsh land below that. We walked up to some sort of plantation, I think it was called Plum Orchard, which was nice if you are looking for a nice walk, but its pretty far for what's there. A few things I'll remember for next time:

Don't rent bikes. It seems like such a good idea, but they aren't well maintained. Nearly everyone we talked to had been stranded somewhere with them

Raccoon-proof your food. More than you think could possibly be necessary. The raccoons are the size of dogs and are smart. They can undo any bungeeing you might try, or the latches on any coolers. We used a complicated rope pulley system and had moderate success, but they are pretty good at getting in your stuff.

Bring enough bug spray. It was buggy when we were there.

Bring more chairs. We thought the group sites would have enough seating with picnic tables and stuff, but we wished we had brought more camping chairs.

Have a plan for your trash. There isn't any trash disposal on the island, you have to take it off with you. We would have paid more attention to our food's packaging if we had thought of that (maybe focus on packaging you can burn)

Have a really good time and remember your camera. The island is beautiful!
posted by mjcon at 1:23 PM on September 29

mjcon's list is pretty thorough. I'd only add a couple of very minor things:

Many of the trails on the island are paved with dredged silt from the surrounding waters, meaning that the roads are full of shark's teeth, some of them quite large. Collector's paradise, and a lot of fun to sift through for a few minutes here and there.

Bring bathing suits. The beaches are beautiful, the water should still be quite warm this time of year, and it's a truly unique experience to be out in the water, looking back at a primeval, undeveloped beach with nothing on it but wild horses. Not to be missed if at all possible.

Have fun! Cumberland Island is a wonderful place.
posted by saladin at 2:34 PM on September 29

We loved the bikes when we went in May, but we were only there for the day.

Remember that it may rain. A lot. We were so happy to have our plastic ponchos, and these made great picnic blankets on the damp beach sand as well.

Look out for the armadillos, they're awesome.
posted by laconic titan at 5:06 PM on September 29

Since I went on this trip, I thought I'd update this post with a few additional pointers that may help future campers. We had a WONDERFUL time. If you get the opportunity to go, do everything in your power to make it happen. It's a beautiful island and a very rare experience. Just knowing it exists and is protected makes me happy.

The water was a perfect temperature for swimming this time of year. There are no lifeguards or postings about rip currents at the beach, so be careful.

You can buy ice from the ferry when it is docked at the island. I wish we had known this (this may be a new development) because we wouldn't have been nearly as concerned about bringing so much ice with us. The ice is not cheap though ($4 a bag).

Firewood can be hard to find, but I think this is also something you can buy from the ferry. If you go, call to check if they've done any tree maintenance lately. They had just cut back a lot of trees and there was firewood everywhere. This is apparently sort of a rare occurrence. It had just been done so most of it was still green, so it wasn't super helpful for us, but still a consideration.

There are cages at the campsites for dry food to keep it safe from raccoons. Watch how you pack the cage though. We had something take a few bites out of a loaf of bread through the cage.

Be careful with your trash. Everything has to be packed out. There are zero trash cans on the island (except for one that is for perishable food only. No trash can go in there, just food that will spoil, so the raccoons don't get into it.) You can dump your trash once you are off the ferry, but use the Cumberland Island dumpster located near the parking for the park.

Definitely go out on the beach at night if you can. It's amazing.

Bring a camera. I can't wait to go back.
posted by Carhart at 8:35 AM on October 6