Congaree National Park is a 26,276 acre American national park in central South Carolina, 18 miles southeast of the state capital, Columbia established in 2003.
Named for the native tribe that once lived here, this federally designated wilderness contains the nation’s largest old-growth bottomland hardwood. The park’s dense, primeval forest is thick with bald cypress, American elm, cherry bark oak and swamp chestnut, some of them soaring skyward more than 130 feet. Yellow coverings of butterweed spread across the ground while scraggly gray beards of Spanish moss sway in the breeze above. Inside this often eerie landscape, bobcats lurk and feral pigs forage.
The swamps, lakes and creeks, meanwhile, serve as a refuge for red-tailed hawks, barred owls and red-bellied woodpeckers; in the murky waters swim alligators, gar, catfish and water snakes.
Location : Hopkins, South Carolina
ESTABLISHED 2003
26,476 ACRES
ANNUAL VISITORS: 159,000
