Driftwood Beach

Barrier islands like Jekyll are always shifting, their sand carried by currents and reshaped by storms. At Driftwood Beach, the natural drift of sand has been steadily eroding the island's northern end, pulling the beach back and exposing the roots of the maritime forest that once grew there.

As the sand washed away, the great live oaks and pines were undermined and toppled, and the constant wash of salt water and sun bleached and polished their trunks into the pale, sculptural forms seen today. The process continues, so the beach is never quite the same twice, an ever-changing record of the island reshaping itself.

Jekyll Island has a long human history, from the Native peoples of the Georgia coast to a plantation era and, most famously, its decades as a private winter retreat for some of the wealthiest families in America. In the early twentieth century the Jekyll Island Club drew industrialists and financiers who built grand cottages in what is now the island's historic district.

The state of Georgia acquired the island in the mid-twentieth century and preserved it as a public state park, balancing recreation with strict limits on development. That protection is why so much of the island remains natural marsh, forest, and beach, including the wild northern shore where Driftwood Beach lies.

The beach and the surrounding island are rich with coastal life. Shorebirds probe the wet sand, pelicans and gulls work the surf, and dolphins are often seen offshore. The nearby marshes teem with fiddler crabs, wading birds, and the fish and shrimp that feed them.

Jekyll is also important nesting habitat for sea turtles, which come ashore in the warm months to lay their eggs, and the island runs a well-known sea turtle center that rescues and rehabilitates injured turtles. Visitors are asked to protect the fragile beach and its wildlife by treading lightly and leaving the trees and dunes undisturbed.

Spring and fall are the most pleasant seasons on the Georgia coast, mild and comfortable for walking the beach and exploring the island. Summer is hot and humid, busy with beachgoers, and the season when sea turtles nest and hatch.

Winter is quiet and cool, when the beach can feel wonderfully empty and the low sun makes the driftwood especially photogenic. In any season, early morning is the magic hour here, when the rising sun sets the weathered trees aglow and the crowds have yet to arrive.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

Driftwood Beach, on Jekyll Island on the Georgia coast, is a strikingly beautiful and unusual beach famous for its landscape of weathered driftwood trees, giving it the nickname the boneyard beach. Over time, as the shoreline has slowly eroded, the trees at the edge of the maritime forest have died and fallen onto the beach, where the sun, salt, and waves have bleached and sculpted their trunks and roots into hauntingly beautiful driftwood sculptures scattered across the sand. The result is a photographer's dream and one of the most scenic and atmospheric beaches on the coast. With its driftwood landscape, Driftwood Beach offers a spectacular destination in Georgia.

You can stroll the beach among the striking weathered driftwood trees, photograph the hauntingly beautiful bleached trunks and roots, watch the sunrise or sunset over the sculptural landscape, explore the shore, and take in the atmospheric scenery. The dramatic driftwood trees, the photogenic boneyard-beach landscape, and the beautiful sunrise and sunset views are the draws, making it one of the most scenic and memorable beaches on the Georgia coast. It is especially stunning in the golden light. With its driftwood landscape, Driftwood Beach offers a rewarding experience in Georgia.

Driftwood Beach looks the way it does because of slow, natural shoreline erosion on Jekyll Island, which over time has caused the trees at the edge of the maritime forest to die and topple onto the beach as the sand shifts. Once on the beach, the fallen trees are bleached and sculpted by the sun, salt, and waves into the striking weathered driftwood forms scattered across the sand, creating the famous boneyard-beach landscape. This ongoing natural process gives the beach its haunting beauty, making Driftwood Beach a spectacular destination in Georgia.

Driftwood Beach is beautiful year-round, with the driftwood landscape especially stunning in the soft golden light of sunrise and sunset, prime times for photography, while the mild months of spring through fall offer the most pleasant weather for strolling. Low tide exposes more of the beach and driftwood. For the most beautiful light and photography, aim for sunrise or sunset, in the pleasant weather of spring through fall, at Driftwood Beach in Georgia.

Driftwood Beach is on Jekyll Island on the Georgia coast, within reach of the Jekyll Island Historic District, the Jekyll Island beaches, St. Simons Island with its lighthouse and Fort Frederica, and the Golden Isles region. That makes Driftwood Beach a spectacular stop to combine with the Jekyll Island Historic District and the other attractions of the Golden Isles on a visit to Georgia.