By Nate Shivar
I recently visited the Scull Shoals Historic Site in the Oconee National Forest*. The site is very accessible just following a single Forest Service Rd off GA Hwy 15.
*I’ve since checked out other middle Georgia public lands like the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, Burgess Mountain Trail, Murder Creek, Kinnard Creek Trail, and the Hitchiti Trail.
It’s what remains of a ghost town founded along what was once the Georgia frontier.
The site itself is interesting to see, even though it’s obvious that it’s been quite a while since either the Friends of Scull Shoals or the US Forest Service had any budget to time to properly maintain, much less restore, the site to what it could be.
It takes some imagination and work to get a sense of what the town used to be like. The town was a launching point to the white settlement of Clarke / Oconee County.
The site backs up to the Oconee River and there are (overgrown) paths around the site, along with an (overgrown / flooded) path to the Oconee River Campground.
Overall, it’s a nice place to see the Georgia Piedmont and picnic. Even in the COVID-19 rush to get outside, it wasn’t crowded at all.
