Posts Tagged With: Congaree National Park

Gatlinburg, TN April 9, 2018

Congaree National Park, SC, on the boardwalk with bald cypress kness

Yesterday, Sunday, was primarily spent at a national park, Congaree National Park. Three years ago I am not sure I had heard of Congaree. As we looked over our map of the 417 U.S. National Park Service sites and checked out unvisited sites, this Congaree National Park stuck out. Then we combined that fact with our desire to spend more time in Kentucky and Tennessee, a desire that was on our list prepared in 2012 of U.S. destinations to visit. Congaree is not in KY or TN, but is on a reasonable line from Miami Beach to Tennessee and Kentucky and then on to Minnesota. Finally, we read more about national parks and Congaree was frequently cited as a park with significant environmental resources.

Congaree National Park in South Carolina

So what is Congaree? Congaree is 26,000 acres, 57% of which is wilderness area. Much of the park is bottomland forest, subject to frequent flooding. Congaree is an oasis of old-growth hardwood trees, uncut when much of southeastern U.S. was being de-forested starting in the late 1800s to provide wood for the booming population and economy of the new industrial United States. This area of forest was owned primarily by a lumber company led by a Francis Beidler. The company stopped timbering due to the difficulty of harvesting and transporting the lumber out of this wet and remote area. However by the 1960s, the company was starting to log the area.

Tall trees at Congaree National Park

Congaree, due to being ignored, is believed to be home to the largest contiguous area of 130 to 160 foot tall trees in the eastern United States. The park has 15 champion trees, the largest known of their species. It was protected from further logging in 1976 by designation as the Congaree Swamp National Monument. In 2003, the National monument designation was broadened to that of a national park by an act of Congress.

When a tall tree falls, does anyone in the forest hear it?

Congaree offers canoe excursions which we skipped since they require each person to know how to swim (I can’t). We focused on hiking, taking 3 hours to tramp 9-10 miles through the woods. A portion of the hike was on a 2.5 mile boardwalk that exhibits the relationship between flooding and the specific trees that can grow in those circumstances, bald cypress, water tupleo, American beech, loblolly pine, among others. The bald cypress is an interesting tree, with wood that is resistant to rot and water. The tree has “knees” that protrude from the water. The function of the “knees” is still unknown.

Hiking at Congaree National Park

The rest of the hike was through a variety of woods on paths a bit muddy after it rained here on Saturday. We were fortunate that the weather was dry today and slightly cool. The amount of water and swamp can produce vast numbers of mosquitoes. The “mosquito meter” on the wall at the park remained at a very low level.

Congaree is home to a unique biological feature. Each spring, fireflies congregate here and as part of their mating ritual, they light up on a synchronized basis. Thus, in the evening, you would look out over the swamp area and “boom” all of the fireflies would be glowing and then “boom” all of the fireflies would not be glowing. The timing varies but is currently expected to happen around May 11-22. Obviously, we will miss it. If you plan to come, make sure to get here early and check out the park’s website for timing updates and tips on courteous behavior.

Riverbanks Botanical Garden Columbia South Carolina

After the three-hour hike, we drove to Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden. We were hoping to see a profusion of blooming flowers. The sun had come out and this idea seemed a pleasant way to end the day. Riverbanks is a very nice combined zoo and gardens with rides for kids also. It comes across as a great place to spend the day for families. We devoted our time to the gardens which were colorful but were too small to present an overwhelming presence by themselves.

After an Italian dinner, we spent the evening with our Evergreen hosts. Another amazing couple with a plethora of interesting anecdotes, people they have met, and places they have visited.

Ed and Chris. April 10