Maritime forest in Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, United States Jun. 17, 2025

Maritime forest in Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, United States

Before you hit the beach, you"ll hear it—the rustle of leaves in salty air, the creak of twisted trunks, the hush of an old world. Welcome to the maritime forest of Cumberland Island National Seashore on the southernmost stretch of Georgia"s Atlantic coast in the United States. Salt spray, sandy soil, hurricanes? The trees here stand their ground. Live oaks bend but don"t break. Saw palmettos crowd the ground like leafy bodyguards, while Spanish moss hangs from branches like nature"s fringe. This maritime forest is one of the best remaining examples of this rare habitat in the United States. Thanks to its national seashore status, the island has been spared from the concrete creep seen on other coastlines.

© Chris Moore/TANDEM Stills + Motion

palette

Today in History

Paddle power
A grand view
Jun. 17, 2024Pollinator Week

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Oct. 29, 2024Great horned owl
Aug. 28, 2025Great white egret, Hungary
Mar. 2, 2025Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains National Park, NSW, Australia
This magical beach is worth the hike
A road not for the faint of heart
Aug. 19, 2025Vancouver Island, British Columbia
A glimpse of the grandest of canyons
Jun. 7, 2024World Oceans Day
Past below, future ahead
May 23, 2025World Turtle Day
Sep. 2, 2023Allens Hummingbird
Feb. 21, 2024Firefall at Yosemite
May 11, 2025Happy Mothers Day!
Apr. 5, 2025Gaztelugatxe islet at sunset, Basque Country, Spain
Stunning symmetry
Come on, guys, this way!
Jul. 15, 2024Marine Day, Japan
This blue succulent is as good as gold here
An iridescent view
Mar. 27, 2025World Theatre Day
A gorge-ous place to drop in
Jun. 22, 2024World Rainforest Day
Nov. 1, 2025Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States
Chasing summer in the art world
A shiver of sharks on the hunt
Dec. 12, 2023Poinsettia Day
A postcard-perfect landscape
Dec. 5, 2023Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles, Bavaria, Germany
Festival fever
Oct. 3, 2024Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India