Congaree National Park, South Carolina - May 21st to 24th, 2023

Congaree National Park is not large when compared to many national parks, but it is still worth a visit. It does not have a campground for RV’s, but Poinsett State Park is not far away. You would think the two parks would be similar, given their close proximity, but their landscapes are very different from one another.

Sunday was a driving day, but our next location was only about a two hour drive away. So we stayed in Huntington Beach State Park in the morning to check out more of the park, then hit the road after lunch. The drive was pretty uneventful. Our destination was Poinsett State Park, still in South Carolina. The campground is small, but there are partial hookups along with a decent bathhouse. The road to get back to the campground is narrow and a little rough. We were thankful we didn’t meet another vehicle coming the opposite direction. We would hate to see two large rigs meet each other on that road. One would have to back up, and that is not a road we would want to back up a trailer on.

We spent Monday at Congaree National Park. It was about a 50 minute drive from our campground over to the national park. It seemed like a very convoluted route, so we were glad we had Google Maps to assist us.

Our plan was to go for a long hike. Congaree National Park is the largest old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in North America. It has been called the Congaree Swamp, but it is actually a flood plain of the Congaree River. The park floods about ten times a year, mostly in the winter and early spring. Most of the trails start from the Harry Hampton Visitor Center. Before starting our hike, we checked the board listing the trail conditions. A couple of trails had some muddy and slick sections, but none were under water the day we were there.

We were at the park during the twenty day firefly season, so the park gates closed at 4 pm. There are fireflies mating in the park every spring. During the mating season, the fireflies flash in unison. On about half of those nights, the park holds Firefly Events where they allow some people back in the park to observe the synchronous fireflies. In March of every year, the park announces the dates for the Firefly Events. For five days in April, they open up a lottery online. For one dollar, you can enter the lottery for your chance to attend one of the Firefly Events. According to the park ranger that we talked to, there were about 17,000 people who entered the lottery for the approximately 1100 event spots. So, even if we had entered the lottery, our chances of getting an event ticket were pretty slim.

The route we took for our hike followed the Boardwalk, Sims, Oakridge, and River Trails. We wanted to experience the different ecosystems in the park and make it all the way to the Congaree River. However, the slick mud on the Oakridge and River Trails slowed our progress and we ran out of time. We turned around when we were still over a mile from the river.

As we were sloshing through the mud, Ann spotted some hoof prints along the trail. We knew there were feral pigs in the park. Just as she finished asking if those tracks were from a pig, we looked up to see a startled pig dash off into the trees. Ann was not quick enough to get a photo, but we were grateful that the pig was easily scared away and not a threat. We caught a glimpse of one or two other pigs a little further down the trail.

On our way back, we took the rest of the Boardwalk Trail. It passes by Weston Lake which is an oxbow lake formed when the river rerouted in a different direction, leaving the lake behind. There was an alligator in the lake that we could see in the distance through the trees.

Just as we returned to the Visitor Center, we overheard another hiker say that they saw a barred owl along the boardwalk, not far from the Visitor Center. So we ventured back down the trail to see it. Sure enough, there it was, not very far from the trail. What a treat!

Our hike ended up being 7.9 miles with an elevation gain of only 36 feet. We completed it in three hours and 40 minutes. It was hike number 20 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2023 and hike number 32 of our National Park Series.

There were only a few minutes to spare before we needed to leave the park. After scraping off some of the mud from our boots and changing into our clean shoes, we hurried back to the restrooms before they closed at 3:45 pm.

When we arrived back at Poinsett State Park, we hosed down our muddy hiking boots and washed our muddy pants. Even though the mud we were hiking in never was deep enough to reach the top of our boots, we somehow managed to get mud on our pants all the way up to our knees.

We decided to make Tuesday a chill day. Our boots and pants needed to dry and we were ready for a day to relax. We felt we got a good taste of Congaree National Park on Monday and didn’t want to drive the 50 minutes to go back for another day. We went on most of the trails the first time, all though we did not go the full length of all of the trails, nor did we make it to the river. However, retracing our steps with an earlier start just to reach the river was not that enticing to us. The only other thing we might have considered doing in Congaree would be to paddle the Cedar Creek Canoe Trail, which runs 15 miles through the length of the park. There are outfitters nearby to rent canoes and kayaks, with some of them offering guided paddles through the park.

Instead, we just hung out at the campground. Ann worked on some posts while Keith fixed our trekking poles. Each of us had a pole with a loose cork handle. After four years of constant use, the adhesive finally failed. Keith fixed them by applying silicone. We’ll see how well that holds. We also spent some time working on future travel plans.

Poinsett State Park is not very far from the Shaw Air Force Base bombing range. When we arrived at the state park on Sunday afternoon, the park was peaceful for the rest of the day. Monday morning, before we left for Congaree National Park, we could hear the jets flying overhead and some bombs going off. It was not loud enough to be too disturbing, but it did change the atmosphere of the park. Since we stayed at the state park all day Tuesday, we heard the sounds of jets off and on all day long. Only occasionally would a bomb go off. One time, we thought we heard machine gun fire. Although we heard a helicopter at about 9 pm, there were no jets flying at night, at least we didn’t hear any.

Before dinner, we took a walk up to the picnic area at the top of the hill and down to the lake. Despite the jets, we had a relaxing and enjoyable day.

We also stayed inside the state park on Wednesday, but we went for a long hike. The trails in the park are well marked, with colored blazes on the trees and, at every trail junction, a numbered sign post. The sign post number matches the number on the trail map, so you can pinpoint exactly where you are on the map. So either pick up a paper trail map at the park office or take a picture of the map at one of the trailheads.

The hiking wasn’t as spectacular as Congaree National Park, but it was still lovely. Right from the campground is a short connector trail that leads over to the Whippoorwill Trail. We pieced together a clockwise loop that went through most of the park (park trail map). The trails we took were Whippoorwill, Splice, Laurel, Hilltop, Coquina, Scout, then back to Whippoorwill. We started off in the woods, then, after crossing the park road, the trail followed Shank’s Creek before circling around the back side of the pond by the park office. Behind the park office are the ruins of an old mill. A flock of chimney swifts were flying low across the lake and smacking their bodies on the surface of the water. It is believed they do this to bathe (All About Birds: Chimney Swift).

Palmetto Trail joined the Laurel, Hilltop, and Coquina Trails. The Palmetto Trail is a long distance trail that was established in 1994. It goes from one end of South Carolina to the other. It will be 500 miles long when it is complete. Currently 384 miles of the planned trail are complete.

In total we went 6.2 miles with an elevation gain of 341 feet in three hours and fifteen minutes. It was hike number 21 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2023.

You can explore most of Congaree National Park in one day. The same can be said for Poinsett State Park. But the two of them together make for a nice, multi-day destination.

Check out our related video: Congaree National Park, South Carolina

(Ann)