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. 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

Revered ruins
A grand view
Jun 17, 2024Green-crowned brilliant hummingbird
Jun 17, 2026Tremola Road on the Saint Gotthard Pass in Airolo, Switzerland

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Mar 22, 2026World Water Day
Feb 1, 2026Colourful house in Olinda, Brazil
Sept 4, 2026Westerheversand Lighthouse, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Nap your worries away
Piecing together a better tomorrow
Jul 23, 2024Methoni Castle, Messinia, Greece
Stretching out in the Everglades
Jan 29, 2025Chinese New Year
Aug 16, 2024Roller coaster in Nagashima Spa Land, Mie Prefecture, Japan
When ice imitates art
Jun 13, 2024Registan Square, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Bungle beehives
Regal Radiance
Aug 20, 2026An orca in Lynn Canal, Alaska, United States
Jan 21, 2026Sand dunes in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan
Jan 15, 2024Makar Sankranti
Widespread and long-eared
A true symbol of heritage and royalty
A light in the coastal darkness
Jul 13, 2026International Rock Day
Feb 25, 2024Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, Canada
Dec 18, 2024English National Ballet performing The Nutcracker
Nov 18, 2023Polar bear mother and cubs, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
May 20, 2024World Bee Day
Sep 11, 2025Butterfly Beach in Canacona, South Goa
When landscape met wilderness
Mar 8, 2025International Womens Day
Aug 31, 2025Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska, United States
Feb 5, 2025Waitangi Day in New Zealand
Oct 26, 2023Schönbrunn Palace Park, Vienna, Austria