Congaree National Park

2019 Hiking Week 14
Congaree National Park

A few miles outside of downtown Columbia is South Carolina’s only national park, Congaree National Park. The park is over 15,000 acres and is a floodplain and "the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States" (from their website). It is a great park to check out if you are in the Columbia area. There are many things to do year round here. But I wouldn’t recommend summer, since the mosquitoes can get pretty bad. Another great thing about Congaree is that it is free! 

This past weekend we did some hiking in the park. We arrived around 11:00 a.m. and it was already pretty busy. The parking lot was even more packed when we left around 1:30 p.m., so I recommend getting there early. Not just for parking but to have the best chance of spotting wildlife. 
The main trail is a raised boardwalk loop that takes you out to Weston Lake. This is the most popular and easiest trail with benches and a self-guided tour you can follow. To avoid the crowds, we hiked the Sims Trail out to Wise Lake. It was a nice, easy hike but most of the trail has gravel which made the hiking pretty noisy. Because of the other people on that trail, we decided to try the Wise Lake loop trail back. It was pretty muddy since it had rained the day before. But the trail had less people on it and it followed Cedar Creek, which was nice. I kept looking for snakes or alligators but didn’t see any. We heard lots of owls, hawks, and other birds. I'm sure if we had gotten out earlier, we would have had a better chance at seeing some wildlife. Also, everything was so green this weekend. With all the new growth, it felt like the green was even brighter than usual. 
In the area we saw lots of mushrooms, wildflowers, and even some more wild azaleas. 

This time of year is a great time to think about visiting the park. Coming up in May, there will be the synchronized fireflies. There isn’t a set time of the month that this happens so you just need to keep an eye on their website and Facebook page to find out when to go. They have a special trail they designate for visitors to see the fireflies. We were able to go last year and it was the neatest thing I’ve seen. They were just out flashing individually and then all of a sudden, they start flashing at the same time. It’s amazing. They don’t really know why or how they do it but it happens only in a few places in the US. And, unlike the Appalachia mountains where they charge visitors and you have a waiting list to visit, the Congaree Park is still free and open to the public to visit. But I do recommend getting there early, possibly even going during the week to avoid the crowds. Also be sure to wear long sleeves and pants and bug spray because the mosquitoes can be pretty bad. Check out the website for more details. 

Another great, cheap, activity you can do in the park is their spring and fall paddling trips. There is a small fee to make a reservation and you have to do it quickly because they sell out fast, but it is a great trip to participate in. You have 2 person canoes and a guide or two who take you through part of Cedar Creek. We did our trip on a Friday morning in September and were done around midday. The weather was nice for our trip and the water was high. But we had to watch out for spiders. There were a lot on the trees. They didn’t bother us but they would surprise you. Be aware that you have to carry the canoes down and up from the launch site, and they can be pretty heavy. But our group worked together to carry them and it worked out fine. Paddling in a two person canoe was challenging but we got the hang of it eventually. 


If you haven’t been before to the Congaree National Park, I recommend making plans to go. And even if you have, there are many parts of the park to explore. Make a day of it and take a picnic! It’s a great gem in the middle of South Carolina. 

Location: Congaree National Park, 100 National Park Rd, Hopkins, SC 29061, USA

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