Amid push to become Georgia’s first national park, Macon mounds offers history and nature now.
A bipartisan effort is making progress toward turning Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park into Georgia’s first national park. But you don’t have to wait to experience the history and natural beauty fewer than two hours south of Buckhead on Macon’s eastern edge.
Ocmulgee, whose mounds are evidence of 17,000 years of indigenous habitation, became a national monument in 1936 and gained national historical park status in 2019. Each September it holds an Ocmulgee Indigenous Celebration. Yearround, its 1,860 acres offer fishing, hiking trails and access to American Indian and Civil War historical sites.
“The Ocmulgee Mounds are not just a Georgia treasure but a national treasure,” says Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr., whose district includes the site. “Its significance makes it worthy of being the first national park and preserve in our state.” The site will expand by thousands of acres if it becomes a national park, as proposed in legislation reintroduced in the U.S. House and Senate in late March, and the National Park Service will share management with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, which controlled 90% of Georgia and had a capital at Ocmulgee until being forced out by the 1820s treaties.
As a national park, annual attendance is projected to grow from 200,000 to 1.3 million, says Tracie Revis, a Muscogee citizen and the director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park and Preserve Initiative.
The larger tribal role and the higher profile would help the Muscogee (Creek) Nation ensure Georgians understand the horrific truth about the Trail of Tears that drove the tribe to Oklahoma, Revis says.
Her nation of more than 100,000 is working on reconciliation with Georgia, where state law technically banned the presence of American Indians until the 1970s.
“The park is the physical remains of the history. But if you don’t understand the culture and the people, then you can’t understand how we use the land,” Revis says.
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation now is consulted only on cultural interpretation, she says. The national park legislation would make the tribe a full partner in protecting the land and its nearly 300 animal species, as well as in telling its people’s story.
The legislation gained a U.S. House subcommittee hearing and Senate committee approval in November.
“Establishing the Ocmulgee Mounds and surrounding areas as Georgia’s first national park and preserve remains a top bipartisan initiative for all lawmakers and stakeholders involved,” said Republican Rep. Austin Scott, whose district abuts the site, in an email.
Making Ocmulgee a national park, Bishop says, “will raise awareness about it, increase public hunting and fishing grounds, welcome more visitors to our area and boost the local economy. We will do our level best to drive this towards the finish line.”
Sen. Jon Ossoff, working with fellow Georgia Democrat Raphael Warnock on the legislation, touts the “unprecedented progress in the last Congress” and said in an emailed statement, “We still have some distance to go, but we’re closer than we’ve ever been.”
Revis is optimistic about the outcome but says the process itself has succeeded the past four years. More than 200 community leaders visited Oklahoma to understand the Trail of Tears. Macon has Muscogee translations on street signs and flies the Muscogee (Creek) Nation flag over City Hall.
“We’re resetting that break to heal a community together,” Revis says.
OCMULGEE MOUNDS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
nps.gov/ocmu
@ocmulgeemoundsnps
State Park Hit List
Building your bucket list of Georgia state parks? Here are three that deserve a visit.
Providence Canyon State Park, outside of Columbus, is known as Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon.” Go for a hike among the colorful rocks.
Explore Stephen C. Foster State Park, the 402,000-acre refuge that’s a gateway to the Okefenokee Swamp. Keep an eye out to spot some of the more than 12,000 alligators that call it home. As a certified International Dark Sky Park, it’s also a top spot for stargazing.
Trek down to see spectacular views at Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia’s northeastern corner. It’s nearly 1,000 feet deep, two miles long and well known as one of the east’s most impressive canyons.
