Congaree National Park

Paddlers explore a creek in the park.

Visitors explore the park's swamp environment from a boardwalk.

Much of the park is a floodplain of the Congaree River.

Skirting the tranquil Congaree River, this national park is home to huge trees, primeval forest landscapes, diverse plants and animals and serenity.

Congaree Swamp, formerly a national monument, became Congaree National Park on Nov. 10, 2003. It has also been classified as an International Biosphere Reserve and Globally Important Bird Area.

The 24,800-acre park contains the last significant tract of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. Many of the trees hold national and state records for size.

The park is also home to all eight woodpecker species found in the Southeast, including the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker.

You can explore the swamp on foot or by canoe. The park's six, easy-to-follow hiking trails include the 4.4-mile Weston Lake loop trail that winds through scenic floodplains.

The Boardwalk, a 2.3-mile, self-guiding loop, provides wheelchair access to Weston Lake and foot access to other loop trails.

A trail is marked for canoes on Cedar Creek.

Primitive camping is allowed, but a free permit is required.

Most of the park is actually a floodplain of the Congaree River. Nearly 20 percent of the park is true swamp and is inundated by water year-round. Occasionally, the park except for the bluff area where the visitor center is located, is flooded. At those times, the canoe trail

markers may be under water, making the trail difficult to follow.

Water levels within the floodplain can fluctuate 13 feet or more. Most of the time, nearly all of the park, except for the oxbow lakes and Cedar Creek, is dry.

Because of the major fluctuations in water levels, visitors should contact the park to find out about current trail conditions (foot and canoe) when planning a canoe or hiking trip here.

More than 98 percent of the park is Congressionally-designated Wilderness and not accessible by motorized vehicles.

The park's Visitor Center, picnic shelter, boardwalk and primitive campground are wheelchair-accessible.