Congaree National Park in South Carolina

Along the Congaree River in Georgia lies the little known Congaree National Park. Comprising over 27,000 acres and located in central South Carolina near the state’s capitol of Columbia Congaree National Park is the largest intact expanse of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. It has only been a national park since 2003

Home to an incredible biodiversity of flora and fauna there are some 25 miles of trail including 2,5 miles of boardwalks. The vegetation is predominantly comprised of loblolly pines, oaks, maples, bald cypress, tupelo and holly trees.

We chose to hike the 2.3 mile loop trail as it was very popular for birding and walking, This trail is raised about 6 feet above the forest floor. The trail is mostly on boardwalk and winds through an old-growth forest. Also trail guide brochure suggested we would likely not encounter too many people while hiking this trail, which we didn’t..

There wasn’t a lot of water in the swampy areas since it is late summer but we did take a spur hike on a boardwalk over to the Weston Lake overlook. The lake is an old channel of the Congaree River. At the Weston Lake overlook we saw several mud slider turtles and sunfish.

We also saw some huge loblolly pine, beech trees and bald cypress trees. The boardwalk trail took us through an impressive cypress-tupelo swamp with their fluted bases and hundreds of cypress “knees” emerging from the grounds below.

We heard a screeching Red-shouldered Hawk while walking the trail and later we spotted one and wondered if it was the same one we heard earlier. We stopped to enjoy viewing it through our binoculars and snapped a few photos as well.

We heard many other bird species including the various woodpeckers, Carolina Wrens and Summer Tanagers. We spotted a few deer as well as many skinks, anoles, and spiders. Thankfully, according to Sharon, we saw no snakes.

While the park appears to be a swamp; it is better categorized as an old-growth bottomland hardwood forest which can be often flooded by groundwater or surface water. As we walked along the Boardwalk Trail we could tell when the soils were less boggy by the changes in understory vegetation and the different tree species. We were both very glad we walked the trail as it was such a scenic, peaceful stroll.