Congaree National Park

I still recall when I first took an interest in the National Parks, back in the 1970s. I lived in Pennsylvania at the time. My father and I had taken a backpacking trip along the Appalachian Trail in Shenandoah National Park, and were planning a trip the following year to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I started looking up other national parks (much harder back then with no Internet, I had to go to this place called “the library”) and was a bit dismayed to find that very few existed east of the Mississippi River. Besides the aforementioned Shenandoah and Smokies, there was Acadia in Maine, Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Everglades in Florida, Isle Royale in Michigan and…and that was it!

Over the past several years, there seems to have been a push to make more “National Parks” everywhere, even in the east. Some changes I had known, like designating Cuyahoga National Recreation Area as a National Park in 2000. But one of which I was completely unaware was Congaree National Park in South Carolina. Perhaps the fact that I did not know it in its prior role as a National Monument contributed to my ignorance, but it had been a National Park since 2003.

Since my return trip from Iowa to Florida was taking me through West Virginia, I would pass within 10 miles of Congaree, so it immediately became the final stop on my initial trip. After grabbing some lunch in Columbia, I headed east on local roads reaching the park entrance in the early afternoon. Unlike so many National Parks, with heavy traffic around the entrance and several families waiting to take a photo with the park sign, I was all alone. There is a short drive through nice woodlands back to the Visitor’s Center.

I was not the only person here, but it was certainly far less crowded than even New River Gorge National Park from the day before. The Visitor’s Center itself was fairly small, with a gift store taking about 1/3 of the floor space. I picked up some information including the boardwalk tour guide, then went to the Passport stamp station. After stamping my 25-year-old Passport book, I set it down and stamped my own booklet that I created for these trips. Then I left – with my Passport still sitting on the table.

I discovered my missing Passport book when I got home and panicked. This had stamps in it back to 1996. It did have a place for a name and address inside the cover – which I had wisely left blank. Desperate, I called the park, and someone had turned it in to the desk. The fantastic NPS staff found it and mailed it back to me.

Back to the park itself. Departing from the back of the Visitor’s Center is a boardwalk that offers about a 2.5-mile walk around the low lands. There are longer trails available through the park, but not on raised boards. Though most are on the higher lands, there would still be areas to get your feet wet.

I took the boardwalk trail. It comes with a brochure highlighting by numbers posted on the trail different aspects of the ecosystem. Congaree contains some of the oldest growth trees in the east, in part thanks to the difficulty in getting them cut and removed. Some trees tower over 150 feet high, something I was certainly considering when, during my walk, I heard the nearby rumbling of thunder!

Along the trail, we passed a lot of the low, swampy lands and the edge of the flood plain just above it. The natural cycle here is for frequent flooding of the area, spreading nutrients into the soil. In one area, the trail passed unusually thick undergrowth. This was explained as an area where a tornado had knocked down the tall trees, opening the ground up to direct sunlight. This spurred the undergrowth. As the “replacement” trees grow over the coming decades, they will again block much of the sunlight and the undergrowth will disappear. The cycle of nature in action.

Besides the natural beauty of this park, there is history here, too. Because of its generally inhospitable terrain, some persons escaping from slavery made their way into the area, where small settlements existed. Some found this safer than trying to make it to Canada on the Underground Railroad. There was always risk of discovery by those seeking escapees, but some lived for years here, preferring the rough but free life to enslavement.

Prior to the European arrival, the area had been occupied by nomadic peoples back at least 10,000 years. These people met Hernando de Soto in 1541, though he moved on seeking other discoveries. The English came later, moving inland from coastal settlements and they “encouraged” the remaining peoples to move elsewhere.

Unlike some National Parks, Congaree does not have “days” of different things to see and do. Bird watchers could probably spend several days seeking out some of the species that exist here, and hikers could enjoy some of the longer trails, though the only official campground is right by the park entrance. For most people, though, one day provides the chance to learn about and experience the reason for this National Park in South Carolina.

Steve