Thank you to Yoplait Min-Ins for Sponsoring this Swamp Adventure for my littlecrunchy.com family! As always, our opinions are our own!
If you ever find that your travels take you to Augusta, Georgia with kids, one of the spots you will want to explore is Phinizy Swamp Nature Park. Adventuring here is like a world away from our own, tucked right next to the busy airport and city! If you don’t know about it, you miss it! This is for sure a spot you do not want to miss!
Phinizy Swamp Nature park is free and open 365 days a year from dawn until dusk, but check with their social media pages as sometimes the hours do change! Right now they close early at 7pm for the next few weeks. This is a bit sad as we are in a heat wave and the best time to go is closer to dusk in my opinion! Of course a bit of heat isn’t going to keep my little ones from their adventuring! Especially when I promised them a new Swamp Snack!
This swamp has easy dirt paths and elevated wooden paths over the swamp water. The construction and care of this place can’t be missed! It feels safe and accessible to even those who have mobility problems. Yet, there is nature in all it’s wonder all around you, and for little ones, it can be a bit scary too! So much opportunity to learn so many things!
There are paths with ramps for those in wheel chairs or on bikes.
There is a multitude of wildlife to encounter as well, from brilliant dragon flies that are everywhere this time of year to the otters and gators! Multiple visits also show you something new depending on the season and time of day, from baby cranes to blue tailed lizards. Goodness, the blue tailed lizards all over had a few of my kids giggling! They are brave little things, but quick too! Turns out, these little lizards are called 5 Lined Skinks, and only the young ones have blue tails!
The darkness under the swamp forest canopy was blissful today. I can’t say it was truly less hot, but it had to have been at least a bit. The blistering heat wave in the direct sun had the heat index over 100. That didn’t keep us though from exploring!
Oh how I adore these little nature loving geeklings! Can you tell which one of these 5 children were often ahead of me? Such little travel loving explorers I have!
Things to bring to the Swamp:
Hats (we forgot these!)
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Bug Spray (they were not too bad this time, we always seem to get lucky here!)
Band-aids for little ones who trip!
Close Toed Shoes (preference!)
Water (A MUST)
And Snacks!
Snack Time in the Swamp!
I promised my little adventurers that we would have a new snack for swamp time! I was so excited when I heard that Yoplait came out with a new yogurt, Yoplait Mix-Ins! Yoplait Mix-ins just launched in July in Walmart. I went to a few stores to get all the flavors I could find for my family. We love yogurt and I knew the kids would love a cool treat in the hot swamp!
Yoplait Mix-Ins come in 6 flavors. I found 5 of them! Very Berry Crisp, Key Lime Crunch, Cherry Chocolate Almond, Coconut Chocolate Almond, Mint Chocolate Delight! The one I need to hunt down next is Salted Caramel Pretzel!
Yoplait Mix-Ins can go anyplace I tell you! All it takes is a lunch box, an ice pack, and spoons!
My oldest and I both adore the Very Berry Crisp! The ingredients are fantastic, the yogurt is creamy and the Mix-In adds such depth to the berry flavor! It is simply yummy.
So why did I pick Yoplait Min-Ins for the swamp snack this trip? I love that it is classic yogurt my family loves. Like simple trips outside in nature. Like the swamp though, the Mix-Ins add unexpected amazing flavor. They are each different with layers of flavor and texture. The swamp is like that! So many things to discover and just when you think you know it all, have seen it all, there is something different. It feeds their adventurous spirit!
We loved every single one of these! I wasn’t shocked when we got home to find the kids dashed right for the fridge and found my secret stash of these and finished off the three I had left. They shared of course! My husband said he would like these for his lunch box during the week!
Back on the Swamp Path after we cleaned up snack time….
We spent some time looking for the turtles we almost always see here. We found little fish and some frogs but no turtles and certainly no alligator this time. The water was very low. It was a good time to explain the drought our area is facing to the kids and the impact it might be having on the animals.
Can you see the white crane in this photo?
On other trips to swamps in the area at other times of years we have gotten to see many things. These are two of our favorites:
This was a small alligator that was so close to shore. It was in the fall then and the water was high, so you can see the drowned grass all around him. It was a very memorable and peaceful encounter!
Back to our swamp day! We did the small loop this trip because of the heat. You can literally spend days exploring here with 14 miles of biking and hiking trails! Go slow, you walk past so much without even noticing. It helps having little ones as they spot things we adults sometimes miss!
Near the visitor and education center along with bathrooms and bubblers there is a kids park! This area is just so cool!
It is just simply so beautiful here. It is hard to remember just how close it is to busy city life. It is quiet and peaceful. A beautiful space for some needed self care time!
While I was sitting in the shade watching the kids play our teenager found 2 kindness rocks! They were right next to a tree I was admiring, and I didn’t even see them! This is what I spoke of before, how added eyes can help you spot things you would otherwise miss.
I think most adults look for “motion” and miss the still things. The kids see more than I do, I swear it! The baby was thrilled with these rocks and they came home with us. You can’t take things from the swamp that naturally belong there. However these are rocks from the Kindness Rock Project and are not “from” the swamp. The Kindness Rocks are painted by people who then hide them out in the world, looking to brighten someone’s day. This swamp is a very popular place for hiding and finding rocks! If you go, be sure to look out for them! You can keep them or re-hide them! The local group on facebook called “Augusta Rocks” love it when you take photos of the rocks you find and let them know!
And so our swamp adventure ended for the day with this view and the joy and wonder in our hearts, and very tired and hot bodies filled with yummy food in our tummies. It was a great trip and we look forward to many more!
To all our homeschooling friends, this place is worth the field trip if you are not local! Check with their education center online to make the most out of your day!
That looks like so much fun! I’ve always found swamps to be so fascinating. The geography and the animals are must amazing.
Family outings like this are always a ton of fun. Nothing makes learning more fun than when it’s an adventure.
From all your photos looks like you all had a great day exploring and playing at the park. Stopping to have a healthy snack with crunch is always a great way to refuel and get going again.
This looks like a cool place to explore. And that yogurt looks delicious!
WOW! your swamp has a lot more interesting animals then mine! We only see seagulls, and the occasional frog!!
I had no idea that Yoplait makes those types of yogurts now!! I have to find them. I love Yoplait better than the other guys that came out with the flip idea.
Yoplait Mixers are so delicious they are a perfect snack. I would love to go to Phinizy Swamp Nature park.
I just love this new Yoplait yogurt! My favorite is the very berry crisp. It’s just so cinnamon-y!
We love that one too! My son though loves the key lime sooooo much!
I LOVE Yoplait Mix In’s! I wish I had one right now! I usually do but I am out. Homeschooling is hard work but so rewarding! Love your adventure – that is my type of place to wander around.
My kids really love them. Every single day now my 9 year old asks for swamp yogurt (what the kids call them now LOL) and there simply is only one kind to be had at the 3 walmarts around us. They can’t seem to keep them in stock. We even tried a walmart market, they didn’t carry them at all! I think they are super popular right now!
What a fun adventure for the whole family. Yoplait is one of our favorite snacks, too.
I love those Yoplait mix-ins! Looks like y’all had a great trip through the swamp!!
Look like a fun outing with the family to the swamps. I love yoplait and these mix-in look fun for an addition to some great yogurt.
Woah that looks like a great time for the whole family. My family would enjoy that and we told the guys from Swamp People that we will have to get out there and visit them soon, I would love to see any swamp in person, so cool!
What a fun trip you had! I love this snack as well. We buy Yoplait all the time.
Those bluetailed lizards are pretty cool! What a great option of snack to take on this adventure.
What a neat place to visit – that is a really cool skink! Love how your daughter wore a tutu 🙂
Food is a must when it comes to hikes. I’m pretty sure my kids ask for snacks as soon as we get in the car! We always bring food on hikes, otherwise it would be a disaster. These Yoplait yogurts look like a refreshing way to refuel.
I like to surprise the kids with adventure food that isn’t the normal trail mix or breakfast bars. Thankfully we have a lot of ice blocks for such trips! (and they double to cool us off too when it is so hot out!) If I could pull off ice cream in the swamp, I would!
This was quite an adventure for you and the kids! I think it’s awesome that you got to take the whole family out there and just enjoy nature. The snacks are awesome, I’m in love with yogurt!
This sounds like such a fun adventure. I know my kids would really enjoy to visit this place. It looks like a wonderful destination for the family.
I’m so glad that they had a fun adventure and experiences. Snack is important for kids and Yoplait is perfect.
Visiting a nature park is always a great idea to spend an afternoon with the family. I went to one recently and it was so relaxing.
It looks like you guys had tons of fun with that Yoplait. I’m not a big fan of the outdoors but the girls love it. – yolonda
That looks like such a fun day!! What a great snack to have along!
This place looks fun, I think my kids would love to visit! Snacking is very important and yoplait is a good snack option!
What a fun family adventure in the swamp! Never would have imagined so much fun to be had in a swamp lol. Everything is ten times more awesome with a delicious snack!
Ive never been to s swamp, but I love going to nature parks. Looks like you all had a great time especially the kids. Will keep that park in mind just in case we get to visit Augusta, GA.
That lizard is so pretty! I love Chobani’s flips so I’ll have to check out these too.