I did a little bit of travelling for the holiday last week and stayed at Congaree National Park for a night. I've visited this park a half dozen times or so before, and I believe it's sadly underrated. The park is located around an hour southeast of Columbia, SC. Though it's a small park by most standards, there's plenty of interesting stuff to see and do here.
The park has two developed campgrounds. Longleaf Campground is a small loop with a gravel parking lot and two pit toilets close to the entrance to the park. There are 6 or 7 primitive tent sites and two large group sites, all situated around a small pond. Sites here go from $10-$20 per night depending on the season, but I've never paid more than $10. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring and is suitable for hammocks or tents.
46508245_10160697218370538_1570128859599208448_n_10160697218365538.jpg
Bluff Campground is a 1 mile hike from either Longleaf Campground or the Visitor's Center. I truly prefer this campground because the sites are spread out much further apart and there are usually less people staying here. It doesn't hurt that these sites are only $5 per night!
20190609_162510.jpg
The third option is to get a free backcountry camping permit. I've never done this because, well, I live in Florida and already spend more time in swamps than I'd like, but there are some videos on The Tube of other folks who have done this if you're interested. Another challenge is that at many times during the year the river floods and most of the park ends up under several inches of water. The two developed campgrounds are up high enough that I've never heard of them being flooded.
20190624_182231.jpg
There are several miles of trails in the park that may or may not be accessible depending on the level of the river. There is an elevated boardwalk loop that remains accessible during some flood periods, but I've known even this to be inundated on occasion. I spent several hours at an overlook at an oxbow lake watching all manner of flying, crawling, swimming, and creeping critters.
20190624_162407.jpg
I didn't bring my usual slew of gear since this was just a brief overnight stop, but this was my first time with the hammock here so I was excited to see how much more comfortable it was over sleeping in the mud in my tent. Boy howdy was it ever! The forecast called for overnight lows in the 40s and while I grew up in the mountains of North Carolina I've lived in Florida for five years now and can't ever tell how the cold will work on me, so I brought a 20 degree Kelty bag and an inflatable pad for insulation. I'm not like some of y'all fancy folks with a closet full of quilts, and I figured this would be enough. As it turns out the inflatable pad was worse than useless. I woke up three or four times with it curled around and/or on top of me. I was lucky there was no wind, and between a couple layers of clothes and the sleeping bag I was plenty warm. I have never actually managed to get any decent sleep in these woods in a tent. The hammock was a game changer. I was woken up around 6 by someone doing some semi-automatic hunting a couple miles away, but did not actually stir from my cocoon until well past 7. This is only my second trip using a hammock but I'm hooked.
PXL_20201125_115823787.jpg
If y'all are ever near Columbia and want to duck into the woods for a couple-three days, I highly recommend this park. Don't forget to bring some Cheerwine!
PXL_20201124_220732684.jpg
Bookmarks