Our summer road trip took us through Columbia, South Carolina, so we had to check out Congaree National Park. We had heard of this park beforehand, but never made it a priority to visit. This year we rearranged our travel to give us several hours of free time as we passed through the area.
Congaree protects a large tract of old growth bottomland hardwood forest along the Congaree River. Much of the park is a swamp. Visitors are encouraged to check the water level before arriving at the park. It is not uncommon for hiking trails, and even portions of the boardwalk, to be flooded.
We pulled into the park at about 10:00 AM on a Friday. Much to our surprise, the parking lot was about 75% full already. The first order of business was a liberal helping of bug spray (swamp = mosquitoes). In case you need reminding, the following sign is prominently displayed at the entrance to the visitor’s center:
Our plan was to walk the 2.4 mile long boardwalk. While dozens of miles of hiking trails can be found throughout the park, we did not have time on this trip for a longer hike.
The boardwalk is well done and very popular. We ran into a lot of people. Older retirees were most common, followed by young families with strollers. And several crying kids. There were quite a few walkers and joggers out for exercise. It seemed like every other group had a dog, too. Unfortunately, there are few places off the boardwalk for dogs to do their business. We learned pretty quickly to watch where we walked.
In hindsight, I think I’d have preferred one of the trails.
We really enjoyed the walk. It was a slow 90 minutes or so. A history of the area is provided by a brochure explaining 20 numbered stops on the boardwalk, ranging from the identification of trees, to 20th century moonshine stills, and damage from hurricanes and lightning.
Along the way we saw owls, woodpeckers, a heron, several other birds, an alligator, many turtles, numerous squirrels, and too many insects to count. Thankfully the mosquitoes were not a problem.
Afterwards we headed to the picnic area for lunch. We ate under a large pavilion (which can be reserved for group functions) that held about a dozen picnic tables and several outdoor grills. Congaree has a lot of picnic tables. A whole lot. Kudos to the park.
Reading about the park we learned two facts of interest. First, Congaree is home to synchronized fireflies. In May of each year, you can walk the Firefly Trail at night to see this phenomenon. But only with a special permit, awarded in advance by lottery.
Second, the park has a feral hog problem. At certain times of the year the park is closed so the rangers can go hog hunting!
Congaree might be a small park, limited to a boardwalk, hiking trails through a swamp, backcountry camping and canoeing / kayaking, but it is well worth a visit. Did we mention that Congaree is free? Incredible for such a great park. I’m sure we will return a few times in the upcoming years.
Garrett and Stephanie
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Love the owl photo!