Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve

2019 Hiking Week 11
Congaree Creek
It was a beautiful weekend for getting outside. Of course, that means in South Carolina that the pollen is out as well. We were able to get back over to the Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve, which runs near the Timmerman Trail. Access to the trail is at the end of Old State Road, in Cayce.

Online it says that the trail (called the Guignard Clay Quarry Loop Trail) is 2.5 miles, but when we started hiking, there was a map that showed a couple of trail options. There is a large loop which is about 3 miles. I'm assuming the 2.5 mile trail is the section that cuts across midway. We followed the short cut Sunday because it said that the other section is more prone to flooding. Even though it hasn't rained in Columbia in over a week, a lot of the trail was muddy. I guess the ground has just been so saturated recently that it needs more time to dry out. I highly recommend waterproof boots or shoes that you don't mind getting muddy. I think the best time to go would be during a long dry period. Also, during mosquito season (warmer months), be prepared for mosquitoes and other bugs. There is a lot of standing water and I can imagine the bugs can get pretty bad.

This area was settled in the 1700's and during the early 1800's, there was a clay quarry operation, Guignard Brick Works, that used this land to produce bricks. Some of these bricks are found on the USC Horseshoe. You can see where the land had been dug out over the years. There are lots of places of standing water, which also you can see how alligators may find a good home here (there were many signs warning of alligators but we didn't see any signs of them). We did see plenty of deer prints and birds. We could hear a barred owl and saw a great blue heron fly among the trees. There was something I saw at one point, either a deer or maybe a wild turkey, but I couldn't get a good look. Once you cross the cut through trail, you hike along the Congaree Creek, where I am pretty sure runs right near the Timmerman Trail. There were also a few signs of spring, besides the pollen, with the wild violet and southern crabapple blooming.

After a good hike, I recommend check out Columbia's newest brewery, Steel Hands. It has a great outdoor space and has food. There is also another brewery in the construction phase currently over in West Columbia. Hopefully it'll open in the next year. And since it was such a nice day Sunday, I visited the USC Aboretum too. I'll work on posting that soon.
Signs for the trail.

Location: Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve, 634 Old State Rd, Cayce, SC 29033, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Battle of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site

Image
2020 Hiking Post 4 You might remember how last May, we visited the  Battle of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site . Recently, we returned there so we could explore the park more. This site is the only SC State Park where Confederate soldiers fought Sherman's troops as he made his way from Savannah to Columbia. There is a short trail (less than a mile) that takes you around the battleground and shows you the battle and what conditions were like at the time. There are still earthen rifle pits and other embankments that the soldiers built. Lots of informational signs along the way. Rifle pit mounds Retreat Trail There's also another trail that marks the route that the soldiers took as they retreated and a cemetery that has the dead from the battle. The park is free and has good visuals of how the battle took place and who was involved in it. There is also a community center and some neat events that take place throughout the year that show you what life wa
Read more

Going Greek

Well, it's one of my favorite times of the year in Columbia. Football season, fall and...the Greek Festival! If you live in the area and haven't been, you need to make it a point to go. It's a great festival with lots of great food and some real friendly people. Now, disclaimer, it gets crowded! They usually take up one block with booths, games, entertainment stages, and food vendors so every free space there is can be filled with people. I recommend going during one of the off-times. Like take a late lunch or an early dinner. Or even an early lunch. They're open from 10 am - 10 pm Thursday through Saturday. They also have Sunday hours. But while you're there, try and make it a point to tour their church. It was just built in the last couple of years and they are always working on adding new artwork. It's beautiful. You can sit there and study all of the Greek Ikons and learn about the history of each painting. Greek Festivals are great family activities and I
Read more

Charleston Area State Parks

Image
2019 Hiking Week 41 Charles Towne Landing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It’s been quite the year traveling all over the state and seeing all that South Carolina has to offer. We didn’t anticipate at the beginning of this year that we would visit all of the South Carolina State parks but we finished and received our certificate! We ended our state park visits with Charleston area parks. We stayed in the area and visited Edisto , Colleton, Givhan’s Ferry, and Charles Towne Landing . We had previously visited Colonial Dorchester State Park on a day trip.  Edisto Beach State Park covers a large part of Edisto Island. There is an inland section with trails, camping, a boat dock, and nature center, as well as a beach section of the park. It was pretty cold when we visited but still beautiful. Edisto is one of the barrier islands that is remote and takes awhile to get there. It’s about an hour’s drive from Charleston. We’ve stayed there a couple times and it’s one of tho
Read more