South Carolina - Congaree

Between our last East Coast Trip and this trip we spent time in Massachusetts, Virginia and Florida seeing family and doing logistics. Now we are off on another adventure! Similar to our last trip we are traveling from Florida to Massachusetts, but with warmer temperatures, we will take the mountain route.

We love to explore areas managed by the National Park Service. There are 417 units in the National Parks system and we like all types (monuments, national seashore, national historic sites, military parks…), but only 59 formally have the designation “National Parks” and few are in the east. Since we were in South Carolina, we decided to go to a new National Park for us - Congaree National Park. Have you heard of it?

Congaree “protects 26,000 acres of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest, the largest such area left in the United States.”* While lumbering stripped most of the forests from South Carolina to Texas, this area stayed preserved due to the difficulty of lumbering in wetlands. Conservationists lobbied to protect the land in the early 1960’s. President Ford declared it a National Monument in 1976. Then in 2003 it became a National Park. It does not have the grandeur or notoriety of some of the National Parks, but it was an interesting place to check out.

We saw the video and looked at some of the display boards. Lucky for us the Mosquito Meter indicated a mild day.

Then we went on a 3-mile hike mostly on boardwalks.

Much of the land has thick mud and standing water in the gullies, so the boardwalks are not only easier for the hiker but also avoid damaging the forest bed. It’s a very different feel than a typical New England forest.

The wet and rich soil is ideal for some tree species, so the park is home to many big trees and numerous “champion” trees (the largest of their species). This loblolly pine is over 150 feet tall.

Keep in mind, Bill has long arms.

Barbara in front of a root ball

These pointy things that poke up from cypress roots are known as “knees.” They don’t really look like knees to us.

We saw a bit of wildlife.

But the main focus is the trees – lots of big old trees and a surprising number of different species. In this picture the moss on the Water tupelo indicates how high the water gets when it floods.

A unique and interesting day!

                                                                                   *Congaree National Park brochure