Congaree National Park, SC

I woke early, packed the car, had breakfast and was on the road from Myrtle Beach, SC to Congaree National Park by 9:00am. It took me close to three hours to get into the park. The parking lot at the visitor’s center was filled so I found parking along the access road. I didn’t see any “no parking” signs anywhere along the road. I assume in summer the park is very crowded.

About 2 miles from the park, there were 8 guys sitting a long the road with shotguns. There was about 100 yards between them. They were all wearing camouflage clothing with bright orange vests. The contradiction struck me in a funny way. A couple of them waved as I slowed down. They were sitting on the road which was raised 10 feet off the forest floor. I was surprised that they were allowed to hunt so close to the road. I believe this was RT 48 or Bluff Rd.

Route from Myrtle Beach to Congaree National Park

There are many hikes you can take in the park, but the most interesting for me was the Boardwalk Tour. This is a little more than two miles on a boardwalk. I did the Weston Lake Loop Trail with AllTrails which is actually two loops. My hike was almost 6 miles. The boardwalk loop is a raised wooden walk way that is very well maintained. This is easily doable with a wheelchair.

There’s also a fascinating Self-Guided Boardwalk Tour (pdf) with 20 markers on the path. With the brochure, everything is visible in front of you. I even saw the pileated woodpecker in the tree at marker 6. It was too high to get a photograph.

The most fascinating part of the hike for me was the “knees” that are produced by the bald cypress trees. There are several theories on why trees produce “knees”. What makes the most sense to me after reading online, is that they need more support in water to prevent them from being pushed over in storms. What ever the reason, they seemed very alien. The “knees” in the photos are the growths coming out of the water around the trees.

In the forest, there is an area that is maybe three feet higher than where the trees were and this is where the switch cane could grow and covered the forest floor.

In the same forest is the tupelo tree. Honey bees collect pollen from this tree and produce tupelo honey. You probably immediately think of the Van Morrison song Tupelo Honey. They grow in the same areas as the bald cypress.

The boardwalk was very special and hiking along the river was so beautiful. Fish were constantly jumping in the river. The park is far from traffic and airports. So, it is quiet except for people talking. Most people remained on the boardwalk. Getting off the boardwalk and walking towards the river, there were very few people.