Congaree National Park

We didn't realize that there was a National Park in South Carolina until we found a list of the 58 parks in the US on Wikipedia.  The park is just a few miles south of Columbia, so we arranged a quick weekend trip in late April 2012.  There is currently no entrance fee for this park.  This is a rather small park and sparsely visited to be so close to a metropolitan area.  

The visitor center is well maintained with a display area, small gift shop and theater.  The movie has not been updated since the park was upgraded from a National Monument, but still portrays the diversity of natural elements that are being preserved. While there aren't any majestic vistas like the western parks, the park contains "the largest intact expanse of old growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in the southeastern United States."  An updated movie is on the list of future improvements as funding becomes available.

The leading activities seem to be canoeing and hiking.  The canoe trips are free and fill up almost immediately when they are posted online.  Since this was a spur-of-the-moment trip, all the spots were already reserved.  However, several hiking trails criss-cross the park.  We chose two routes.  The obvious first choice was the Elevated and Low Boardwalks that together make a 2.4 mile loop.  The boardwalks are well maintained with evidence of some recent rebuilding due to a few trees that had fallen across the structure.  On the second day, we walked the 4.6 mile Weston Lake Loop Trail that includes all of the Elevated Boardwalk, a short portion of the Low Boardwalk and a ground trail.

We saw a wild turkey cross the Low Boardwalk.  Unfortunately, the pictures are blurred because I had the camera setup for landscapes instead of action due to the low ambient lighting conditions in the forest.

A Boy Scout troop built several footbridges on the trail to cross creeks like this one.  Hopefully, the bridge building efforts were rewarded with one or more Eagle rankings.

The trail follows the northern bank of Cedar Creek for a considerable distance.

We did see a snake near the trail in this section, but it left in a hurry as we approached.  The trail passes through several drier areas that also contain some rather large trees.

After crossing under the Elevated Boardwalk, the ground trail ends at the junction of the Low and Elevated Boardwalks.  At the top of the ramp that joins the boardwalks, turn right for an elevated view of Weston Lake.  

This was one of several turtles we saw swimming in the lake.

The park website is at http://www.nps.gov/cong/index.htm