What are the Discover Nature Apps?

There are now TWO mobile apps available for visitors to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge!  "Discover Nature" has an interactive and fun scavenger hunt style game along the Swamp Island Drive and "Discover Nature Wilderness" features the refuge's entire canoe trail system and will show you your real time location along the trail (even without cell phone coverage).  Both apps have tons of great information about refuge wildlife AND alllow you to post photos and sightings!

How do you get the Okefenokee Apps?

It is so EASY!  Go to the App Store or Google Play and search "Discover Nature" or "Discover Nature Wilderness".  Download the Discover Nature/Discover Nature Wilderness App.  Then once you open the app, you will be asked to "add sites".  Find the Discover Oke icon and download.  

Discover Nature App    IPhone users can download it now while cell/wifi coverage is good

Discover Nature Wilderness App   IPhone users can download it now while cell/wifi coverage is good

Discover Nature App    Android users can download it now while cell/wifi coverage is good 

Discover Nature Wilderness App  Android users can download it now while cell/wifi coverage is good

Is there a charge for the app?

The Discover Nature/Discover Nature Wilderness and Discover Oke app is COMPLETELY FREE!  And AD FREE as well!

If there is no cell coverage, will this even work?

YES!  Once downloaded, the app works with or without cell coverage.  So, while some cell carriers coverage is notoriously spotty at the refuge (which can make downloading the app on site a bit of a lengthier process), if you download it NOW, you'll be able to learn all about the refuge before your visit, and then have fun playing the game during your visit - practically guaranteeing that you'll SEE MORE! 

Do I need to download both apps?

It really depends on what you plan to do on your visit to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.  The Discover Nature App is a great way to engage with children and families to have an educational experience along the refuge's Swamp Island Drive (Main Entrance).  

If you are planning an overnight trip into the swamp, the Discover Nature Wilderness is a MUST!  This app is geared to visitors who are going out on the refuge water trails and will aid in navigation along the way, as well as give you cool and interesting information and photos.   

What can I do in the Discover Nature App?

There are many great features to the app and ways to enhance each visit to the refuge.  Play the interactive and fun trivia game along the refuge's Swamp Island Drive, post your wildlife sightings using the sightings tab, and post pictures of the wildlife and scenery you see by either taking photos through the app or uploading photos that you have taken with your phone.  Like other users posts and sightings and share your trivia score on Facebook with friends and family!

What can I do in the Discover Nature Wilderness App? 

The Discover Nature Wilderness App is an app specific to the refuge's water trail system.  There are 120 miles of water trails and many visitors use these trails for canoeing, kayaking, boating, fishing, etc.  This app allows users to see their exact location, mark waypoints, check distances between locations, and aid in navigation while out on the refuge.  

The place-based scavenger hunt style trivia game and wildlife spotting app will give smartphone users an exciting new way to learn about and appreciate the refuge’s extraordinary flora and fauna.

“Discover Okefenokee will help us reach the rapidly growing number of smartphone-carrying visitors in a way that’s both fun and substantive,” said Michael Lusk, Okefenokee NWR manager. “While nothing beats a personal interpreter, the Discover Okefenokee app will fill a vital gap, giving people of all ages another avenue to learning through technology.”

Developed by Discover Nature Apps, an award winning, mission-driven app developer, the “Discover Okefenokee" game will include a GPS-guided nature-based scavenger hunt; the ability for users to post and view sightings and photographs and share their experiences on social media. Discover Okefenokee will be nested within the free Discover Nature App, which can be found on iTunes or Google Play Store by searching for “Discover Nature Apps.”

To play the game, users must be on the Okefenokee Swamp Island Drive, and will be alerted by the app when they’re close by. In addition to the game, the app will allow users to capture photos of their discoveries, including sightings like alligators, sandhill cranes, and other emblematic Okefenokee wildlife. Sightings and photographs will be viewable in a digital photo gallery that will be accessible to all users, regardless of their location.