Congaree

Explorations of one of America’s forgotten National Parks.

Congaree National Park is one of the least visited “national parks” in the United States. Low visited national parks tend to be in very remote areas like Alaska or American Samoa. However, this one is right in the middle of South Carolina.

Congaree is not the flashiest national park out there. There aren’t any gorgeous vistas to be found here. Congaree protects a section of bottomland along the Congaree River where you can find old growth forests and giant trees rarely found today in the Eastern part of the United States. The Congaree River regularly floods. While this makes most of the trails impassible, the floodwaters provide the nutrients to create the giant trees found in the park.

I happened to visit on a low flooding day. Thankfully the park has this nice 2.4 mile long boardwalk trail.

Jana Irving

Look at that gorgeous boardwalk over the mushy ground.

Jana Irving

Didn’t even get my hiking shoes damp.

Jana Irving

This would have been a pain to walk through.

Jana Irving

A giant cypress tree…

Jana Irving

… with its many, many knees.

Jana Irving

A boardwalk through the trees.

Jana Irving

The boardwalk dodging old growth trees.

Jana Irving

A bit swampier here.

Jana Irving

More swampy.

Jana Irving

I have no idea how but swamps are super reflective.

Jana Irving

I think this might be Weston Lake.

Jana Irving

Super reflective.

Jana Irving

I think that it’s a water snake. Not sure what kind though.

Jana Irving

Love a good swamp.

Jana Irving

Turtle!

Jana Irving

A little skink of some kind.

Jana Irving

Boardwalk passing through the trees.

Jana Irving

On the way out of the park the next morning, I stopped by at the trail head for the Kingsnake Trail. The water was super reflective that morning.

A good chunk of Congaree National Park is wilderness. The easiest place to access most of the trails is by the Visitor Center. Other trails feed off the boardwalk loop, which I mostly stayed on. It’s a neat park. It’s not developed as much as a lot of national parks, which makes it unique.

Check out my next update where I explore a bit of Savannah, Georgia!

or

Check out more National Parks and Public Lands!