Visiting Congaree National Park in South Carolina

November 19, 2023

Since we had a few more days in South Carolina, on Thursday, Bruce asked me if there was anything I’d like to do.

I said I would like to go to the Congaree National Park. Bruce looked it up on Google maps and said it was an hour away. He didn’t sound enthusiastic, so I said, “Have we ever been disappointed visiting a national park?” The answer was no. So he agreed to go.

On Friday (November 17), we took the truck and Nox to the Congaree National Park, just south of Columbia, South Carolina.

It was a stunning park. It is the largest remaining track of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in North America.

We did the boardwalk loop, a 2.4 mile round trip starting from the visitor center and ending back at the visitor center. Wheelchairs, stroller and pets are welcome on the boardwalk trails.

The rangers were at the visitor center and very friendly. While I stopped into the restroom, Bruce picked up the self-guided tour brochure. We put Nox in her backpack and off we went. Nox was a star as we walked down the trail. The dog in the backpack gets everyone’s attention.

The pileated woodpecker was a great spot by Bruce. The woodpecker chipped of large chunks of dead wood while we watched. We watched until the woodpecker took off.

We also saw a black snake curled around the top of a stump just of the trail.

For those of you who don’t like snakes, I put the snake picture last so you can skip it.