The ground under Jekyll Island's Oleander Golf Course sits low and holds water, and a 2022 assessment found that the wet conditions limited play. Part of that course is now being used to build a freshwater wetland, a native grassland and a network of walking trails, with viewing platforms over two ponds. The project is expected to be finished by early 2027.
The full story is spread across a 2022 consultant's report, a board vote, a state grant, a coastal permit filing and two Jekyll Island Foundation updates. Read together, they show how the island's newest nature site came out of a drainage problem.
The problem in the 2022 report
In April 2022, a golf assessment for the Jekyll Island Authority found that Oleander lies lower than the island's other courses and holds water. That kept conditions wet and limited both play and the course's appeal to golfers. The report also raised concerns about tidal water flow and noted that the irrigation system was last upgraded in 1981. It concluded that keeping all 18 Oleander holes was likely unsustainable and suggested cutting the course by nine holes. In its proposed redesign, the remaining land would hold a new driving range along with conservation areas and drainage support.
On September 20, 2022, the JIA Board adopted a Golf Improvement Plan that did roughly that. Nine Oleander holes would be combined with Great Dunes. The holes being retired would be restored as a wildlife corridor, which the board called a "Conservation Opportunity," with corridor design to come back to the board in 2023.
The golf half is already done. According to JIA's May 2025 magazine, restoration of Great Dunes began in October 2024, with nine Oleander holes worked into the new 18-hole layout. JIA says Great Dunes reopened in Fall 2025 as a restored 18-hole course that includes land from the old Oleander course. The island's current golf lineup is Great Dunes, Pine Lakes and Indian Mound. Oleander is no longer listed.
The same drainage system, put to a different use
The conservation half is where the wet ground finally helps. In a February 2026 Jekyll Island Foundation update, wildlife biologist Joseph Colbert and Director of Conservation Yank Moore wrote that the course's existing drainage infrastructure "has been adapted to create a new freshwater wetland." The authors list breeding wood ducks, frogs and tadpoles, and crawfish, along with a reliable freshwater source for deer and marsh rabbits.
On the old fairways, conservation staff are planting native grasses that once covered much of the coast. The goal is a corridor that lets animals move between natural areas without crossing paths with the island's millions of visitors. Savannah sparrows, loggerhead shrikes and southeastern kestrels are the grassland birds the project is built around. All three are priority or watch-list species in the Jekyll Island Conservation Plan. In the nearby woods, controlled burns and under-brushing are meant to bring back the ground cover that Chuck-will's-widows, box turtles and pine woods tree frogs need.
The project's acreage depends on which document you read:
- 50 acres: the corridor size in the 2022 Golf Improvement Plan, covering the nine retired holes.
- 52 acres: an earlier Foundation description, which planned maritime grassland and longleaf pine savanna with public walkways.
- 114.5 acres: the project area named in the 2023 Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program grant, which describes a golf course restoration and recreation corridor.
None of these sources explains why the boundary changed.
What the finished corridor will include
For residents, the most useful detail in the February update is that former golf cart paths will become a connected network of walking trails. Interpretive education features, bird nest boxes and underground hibernation chambers for reptiles were still being finalized when the update was published.
The viewing platforms have their own paper trail:
- Fall 2025: JIA filed a coastal permit application for wildlife viewing platforms on Oleander Big Pond. The application carries dates of October 30 and November 4, 2025, and lists 322 Captain Wylly Road as the project address.
- March 10, 2026: Public comments closed on the Georgia DNR notice, which describes two covered platforms connected to the existing cart paths by pervious paths.
- August 28, 2026: A Foundation story by Yank Moore described four "soon-to-be-installed" platforms overlooking Amphitheater Pond and the tidally influenced Oleander Pond.
That same August story is a fundraising appeal for four Dual-Head Observation Stations, one for each platform. Each station would have a scope at standing height and a lower, ADA-accessible pivot for children and wheelchair users, plus EnChroma lens coatings that help visitors with color vision deficiency tell colors apart. The photos with the story show wood storks, an American alligator, a green heron and a roseate spoonbill.
As of mid-October 2026, no source we found confirms that the platforms are built or that the corridor trails are open to the public. The 2026 island map from JIA labels a "Wildlife Corridor" near Captain Wylly Road. It does not show a designated bike or pedestrian connection into it, and JIA asks cyclists to stay on designated paths.
Amphitheater Pond is the anchor
Two of the four platforms will overlook a pond that birders already know well. In May 2026, The Current described the Jekyll Island amphitheater pond as a wading bird rookery. Wood storks nest on islands in the pond, and alligators swimming below keep raccoons away from the young. The pond was enlarged, and plans call for observation decks. JIA's birding guide lists egrets, wood storks, anhingas, roseate spoonbills, night herons and migrating warblers in the pond and the surrounding woods.
The same Current story covered a separate plan for the area. The 2022 Golf Improvement Plan recommended a 50-room boutique golf hotel next to the pond. JIA's February 11, 2026 request for proposals raised that to 70 rooms, and JIA later said it would consider proposals of 90 to 125 rooms. Coastal Georgia Audubon and One Hundred Miles raised concerns about the larger size, and a petition passed 2,000 signatures. JIA received no proposals by the March 31 deadline and said it was considering reissuing the request at a later date. We found no verified update since then. The next JIA board meeting is listed for Tuesday, October 20, at 9:30 a.m.
Where to go until the corridor opens
The corridor's grassland and freshwater birds can already be found on other parts of the island this fall and winter. These are the established spots, with what state and JIA guides say about each.
| Spot | How to get there | What the guides point to |
|---|---|---|
| Horton Pond and Tupelo Trail | Unmarked road across Beachview Drive from Villas by the Sea; small parking area and bike rack | Wheelchair-accessible observation deck, floating wildlife platform, 0.7-mile trail, migrant songbirds |
| North End freshwater overlook near Skeleton Beach | Driftwood Beach parking or Clam Creek Picnic Area | Black-necked stilts, wood ducks, teal; scoters and scaup offshore in winter |
| St. Andrews Beach Park and Jekyll Point | South end | Two-story wildlife platform; winter high-tide flocks of up to 120 American oystercatchers |
| Causeway platform behind the Welcome Center | Jekyll Island Causeway | Saltmarsh and Nelson's sparrows, November through April, easiest at very high tides |
Horton Pond is the closest match to what the corridor is aiming for. It already has a wheelchair-accessible observation deck over the pond, and the state birding trail guide calls it good for migrant songbirds. On eBird, the Horton Pond hotspot shows 186 species across 1,370 checklists. Clam Creek Picnic Area shows 228 species across 1,708 checklists. These are all-time totals, not counts for one season. Driftwood Beach shows 209 species across 1,125 checklists.
For the south end, check the tide chart before you go. The Georgia Birding and Wildlife Trails guide says the biggest winter oystercatcher flocks gather at high tide. JIA calls Jekyll Point the island's best shorebird spot when the tide allows access. The causeway sparrows follow a similar rule: very high tides between November and April push them into view.
Jekyll's network of more than 24 miles of paths and trails makes bike trips between these spots practical. The Georgia Ornithological Society Fall Meeting runs on Jekyll from October 9 through today, October 12, with guided field trips that are open to members and non-members.
On early 2027, the Foundation's own timeline is the only date available. The October 20 board meeting is the next public chance to hear about the Amphitheater Pond hotel, and the Foundation's story pages are where platform progress has been posted so far.
Questions about life on Jekyll, from the new trails near Captain Wylly Road to how island projects like this one affect your home, are what Mackay Cate talks with Golden Isles neighbors about every week. If you own on Jekyll and want to know where your home stands right now, ask for a free home valuation.
