Central South Carolina

Say "swamp," and the first picture that likely strikes a chord is of a wet, sticky, mosquito-swarmed mud that few individuals would need to visit. Such a picture surely may have kept a few guests far from Congaree Swamp National Monument, a 22,000-section of land woods in South Carolina.

Yet, after the landmark increased national park status in November 2003—and dropped the unappealing "s" word from its name—the quantity of guests every month expanded essentially.

Actually speaking, Congaree is not a bog, in light of the fact that it doesn't contain standing water all through the vast majority of the year. One of the most current national parks is really a floodplain woodland that surges around ten times each year. Spreading upper east from the winding Congaree River, the area is the biggest coterminous tract of old-development bottomland hardwoods in the United States.

Push back the spooky Spanish greenery that trickles from the uncovered cypresses, and you enter a lavish backcountry possessed by wildcats, deer, and perky waterway otters. Yellowbellied sapsuckers drill openings into trees one day and return the alongside devour the sap that has filled the gaps. The fast fire arrangement of thumps you hear is from one of the numerous woodpeckers found in the recreation center, likewise working diligently exhausting openings into trees.

Around evening time in the fall and spring, officers lead guests on an "owl sneak," so they can hear the spooky calls of banished owls and see the gleaming parasites that become on the cypresses. As per nearby legends, the cypress tree's trademark "knees"—little, bumpy wood developments that ascent around the storage compartment's base—are truly wood mythical people who wake up during the evening to move through the woodland.

Congaree was named for the Native American tribe that lived here hundreds of years prior. They were pulverized in the 18th century, casualties of a smallpox plague that came over with European pilgrims.

Around the end of the following century, the nation's prospering wood industry moved south, with an eye on Congaree's goliath hardwood trees. On the other hand, in view of the remoteness of the region and the absence of safe conduits a considerable lot of the old titans were spared from the hatchet.

Progressives strived to spare the rest. In 1976, Congress remunerated their endeavors by putting Congaree aside as a national landmark. Since its foundation, the recreation center has been assigned as a national common point of interest, an internationally critical fledgling region, and a worldwide biosphere save.

Instructions to Get There 

Twenty miles southeast of Columbia, by means of I-77 and Bluff Road or S.C. 48. Take after the Congaree National Park course signs to the recreation center.

At the point when to Go 

Year-round. Spring and fall are the most charming seasons. Boaters discover simpler paddling after a downpour in late winter and early spring.

Step by step instructions to Visit

Permit a full or half day. From the guest focus, take the Low and High Boardwalk Trails (2.4 miles absolute). At that point do the Weston Lake Loop Trail (4.4 miles) around the oxbow lake. Birders like the 11.7-mile Kingsnake Trail in a remote piece of the recreation

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