My wife and I were hiking the Roller Coaster Trail earlier this year. We were all alonel when suddenly a wild horse came charging past us as we dodged to the side. The horse soon reversed course and proceeded ahead of us. This happened a couple of times. When we rounded a bend, we saw why the horse was so agitated - there was an alligator right in the middle of the trail. The horse would approach and paw at the alligator, the alligator would open his jaws and snap at the leg of the horse, and the horse would turn back and gallop away. We were enthralled by this encounter for several minutes till we passed by the alligator and proceeded on with our hike. We never knew if the horse made it past the alligator or not!
Sincerely,
Cumberland Island National Seashore
Just off the Georgia coast, this park preserves a Georgian Revival mansion, nearly 204,000 museum artifacts and archives, miles of undeveloped sandy beaches, and more than 9,000 acres of federally designated wilderness. The park interprets the history of the island, which was one of the premiere leisure destinations for some of the nation’s most powerful and influential families during the Gilded Age. Visitors can glimpse some of the numerous plant and animal species that reside on the island and in adjacent waters, including threatened and endangered animals such as the North Atlantic right whale, Florida manatee, wood stork, piping plover, loggerhead sea turtle and green sea turtle.
State(s): Georgia
Established: 1972
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