Congaree National Park

Boardwalk Trail Congaree National Park

Congaree National Park

We arrived at Congaree National Park, South Carolina on Sunday January 26, 2025.  The park is a 26,692 acre National Park located in the center of South Carolina not far from Columbia. At the visitor station we checked the Mosquito Meter and it read 1, which meant “All Clear” for Mosquito’s.  The meter ranges are: 1 = All Clear; 2 = Mild; 3 = Moderate; 4 = Severe; 5 = Ruthless; and 6 = War Zone.  So, our planning to visit the park in January paid off. 

The visitor center was nice and had a number of exhibits about the park, timelines and key reasons for the land becoming a National Park.  There was also a very informative movie about the park and the unique trees that call the park home.  Congaree preserves the largest tract of old growth bottomland/floodplain hardwood forest left in the United States.  The park’s canopy is one of the highest forest canopies in the world. 

Congaree National Park is home to a variety of animals including otters, bobcats, wild boar, deer and many species of birds.  There are also 21 different species of snakes that call the park home.  The park has also been home to many different groups of people over the years including prehistoric natives, Revolutionary War patriots and escape slaves. 

We did not spend much time at Congaree, but we did hike the Boardwalk Trail which begins at the visitor center with an elevated section (the boardwalk) that leads down into the old growth bottomland hardwood forest.  A variety of different tree species can be observed.  The boardwalk has benches along the way.  We saw many deer toward the end of the hike and have some great pictures included below.

Its safe to say the Congaree was not our favorite park and would not recommend it unless you like trees and swampland.