Congaree National Park Images

Introduction.

Congaree National Park appears to be a relatively small sized park located in the low country of South Carolina, however it contains over 20,000 acres of federally designated wilderness. It is the only National Park located in South Carolina. What is most unusual about this park is that a large part of the hiking and visiting area is mostly through "low country" swamps. The park encompasses the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States.

Activities available to visitors include hiking, campground camping, back country camping, fishing, canoeing, and kayaking.

General logistics information.

There is only one entry point into the park, near Gadsden, South Carolina, about 25 miles southeast of Columbia. The park is officially opened 24 hours a day, all year long. There is no lodging inside the park nor are there any food options, so you need to make sure you plan appropriately. Based on our desire to visit the only National Park in South Carolina, we opted to stay in Santee, which was about a 1 hour drive to the park.

In this post, I will review some of the highlights of our visit to Congaree, provide some additional places to visit in this area of South Carolina, and share some of my Congaree National Park images, that I hope you will enjoy. Even if you are not going to be staying in the area for an extended period of time, you should be able to use our information and get a good taste of this unusual and interesting National Park.

Congaree National Park Images.

• As always, we believe it is a must to stop at the Visitor’s Center. Check out the gift shop, get questions answered from one of the rangers, and learn about park activities.
• On our first visit to the park, we decided to walk the Boardwalk Trail and get a feel for the park's environment.



• The Boardwalk Trial is a loop trail that cover about 2.5 miles in total distance. Note, it is wheelchair and stroller accessible.

• You can get a self-guided Boardwalk Tour brochure at the Harry Hampton Visitor's Center.

• It is raised boardwalk that takes you through low country swamps, and gets you up close with a variety of trees and plants including switch cane, water tupelos, bald cypress, loblolly pines, and others.

• Taking a hike through a swampy area may put many people off, but I would say that prejudgments can often be wrong. We found Congaree a very interesting location, and it certainly provides some unique sites.

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• On our next visit we used the trail map to create our own path and touched on a few different trails within the park.
• We again started out on the Boardwalk Trail.

• Connected to the Weston Lake Tail (approximately 4.4 miles).

• Backtracked to Sims Trail (approximately 1.3 miles).

• Reconnected to the Boardwalk Trail to get us back to the Visitor's Center.

• There are some hikes that are considerably longer than the ones I have mentioned, and for those interested there is a Park Ranger led kayak tour, though you will have to check with the Visitor's Center on the timing of these tours. Our take away is that visiting Congaree National Park was an enjoyable experience and was worth us making the effort to visit the park.



• In regards to other outdoor/nature related items in this area of South Carolina, there are 2 in particular that I will mention here.



• Santee National Wildlife Refuge is a large nature area of approximately 13,000 acres located on the north shore of Lake Marion, with a diversity of wildlife consisting of 300 bird species, 45 mammals, 54 reptiles, and more that 100 species of fish.
• One section that we visited is called the Cuddo Unit. Our visit here was made up of a drive through alligator alley, as we were not prepared to get out and hike in this area (see below).



• However, even from your vehicle you will come across many sightings of very large gators, some different species of ducks, and we were lucky enough to spot some Great Blue Herons.



• The other item that is strongly recommended if you anywhere near the Santee, South Carolina area is taking one of the Swamp Boat tours.
• This tour provides you with great history on Lake Marion, gives you some beautiful lake views, and most of all gets you into the swamps for a close up look at some wildlife.
• The wildlife that was most prevalent on our tour were a significant amount of turtles and the most enjoyable part to us, the viewing of numerous Ospreys.
• Seeing the Osprey in relatively close proximity, watching the males stand guard over their nests, and watching these large beautiful creatures fly in and out of their nests was spectacular.



• One of these boat tours is a great way to spend a couple of hours with the family, enjoying the fresh air, learning some history, and seeing some interesting nature sights.