Massive Ancient Trees Tower Above Kayakers in America’s Largest Intact Bottomland Hardwood Forest

Congaree National Park

Down in South Carolina, between the mosquitoes and cypress knees, there’s a forest that breaks records. Congaree’s trees stretch toward the sky while kayakers glide through blackwater swamps below. Eagles soar overhead, and fireflies light up summer nights.

Here’s your guide to South Carolina’s wildest park.

Paddle Cedar Creek Like You Mean It

If you want to see Congaree’s soul, you need to get on Cedar Creek. 

This lazy blackwater stream is the main artery through this forgotten world. Otters splash around, turtles sun themselves on logs, and birds call out warnings as you drift by. 

No need for permits or fees, just show up at South Cedar Creek Road launch, drop your canoe in, and push off. The current’s so slow even a beginner won’t struggle. 

Pay Respect to the Champion Trees

We’re talking loblolly pines stretching 169 feet into the sky – like a 17-story building made of wood and bark. 

The cypress trees have trunks wider than your car with “knees” poking up 7 feet out of the water. These monsters thrive because the river floods ten times a year, bringing a buffet of nutrients. 

Standing beneath them feels like being in some prehistoric cathedral. 

Take the Boardwalk Loop Trail (But Don’t Rush It)

The boardwalk sits 6 feet above the swamp floor, giving you front-row seats to the whole wild ecosystem without sinking into mud up to your knees.

Listen for woodpeckers hammering away overhead. 

The 2.4-mile loop starts at the Visitor Center and shows off the best old trees in the place. Heads up though – they’re fixing parts of it through 2026, but detours let you see everything. 

Take your time here. The slower you walk, the more you notice.

Hit the Weston Lake Loop Trail When the Crowds Thin Out

This 4.5-mile flat path hugs Cedar Creek before looping around Weston Lake. Nothing hard about the hike, and there are plenty of spots to sit and just watch. 

If you’re lucky – and patient – you might spot a gator sunning itself by the water’s edge. 

Seeing birds and snakes are practically guaranteed, too.

Go Deep on the River Trail

This 10-mile trail takes you straight to the mighty Congaree River itself – the lifeblood that makes this whole ecosystem possible. When the water’s low, a massive sandbar appears like some strange beach in the middle of the forest. 

Wear sturdy boots and long pants because the vegetation grows fast and wild here. This same path once felt the footsteps of Hernando de Soto and General Sherman’s troops. 

Get Comfortable with the Wildlife

Let’s be clear, you WILL see snakes here. Probably lots of them. 

The Barred owl, the park’s mascot, watches from the shadows with eyes that have seen a thousand nights. Fishing spiders build webs bigger than your face. 

The park hosts 178 kinds of birds from elegant herons to punky-looking pelicans. 

Yellow-crowned night herons hunt at dawn, white ibis flash through the canopy, and water snakes drape themselves over fallen logs like they own the place (they do). 

Fish Where the Freed Slaves Once Cast Their Lines

There’s something profound about dropping a line in the same waters where freed slaves fished after the Civil War. 

You’ll need a South Carolina license, and you have to follow the state rules on size and catch. No fancy motor boats allowed – just the basics: hook and line, fly rod, casting rod. 

The only off-limits spot is around the Weston Lake overlook. Everything else is fair game. 

Tackle the Kingsnake Trail If You’re Feeling Bold

This is where the tourists thin out and the real forest begins. Twelve miles of trail cutting through areas where deer, raccoons, and even bobcats leave their tracks in the mud. 

Halfway along, you’ll hit a cypress-tupelo swamp that stretches as far as you can see. Parts of the trail use boardwalks to cross creeks and boggy spots, but most of it is earth underneath your boots. 

Walk the Historic Bates Ferry Trail in Solitude

The eastern side of the park sees a fraction of the visitors, making this just-over-one-mile path to the old ferry site a near-private experience. 

For decades, this ferry moved people across the river before bridges made it obsolete. New signs tell about the American Revolution battles fought nearby. 

It’s a quick walk, but in the early morning fog, with history hanging thick in the air, it feels like stepping back in time. 

Test Your Limits in the Wilderness

Eleven trails wind through this swamp, marked with white blazes on trees. Before you go, check the flood levels – 90% of this place can go underwater after heavy rains. 

Float the Congaree River Blue Trail and Cross Worlds

Fifty miles of river connecting downtown Columbia to the wild Congaree. American Rivers named it a national blue trail because it matters. 

Starting in the concrete jungle and ending in primeval swamp shows how dramatically our world changes in just a short distance. The river shaped this land for thousands of years before we showed up with our maps and names. 

Paddle it, and you’ll feel that ancient power still at work. 

Wander the Oakridge Trail Where Giant Oaks Rule

Seven miles through old-growth forest along a subtle ridge where oak trees grow thick and strong. 

Deer and wild turkeys gather in the low wet spots, going about their business like they’ve done for centuries. 

Some of these trees were already old when America was born – over 250 years of storms and seasons recorded in their rings. 

Camp in the Backcountry

Find a sandbar big enough for your tent, and you’ve got yourself a river’s edge campsite that beats any five-star hotel.

The high ground areas allow fires if you need that primal comfort. Grab a free permit from the Visitor Center before heading out – it’s still a national park with rules, after all. 

The hardcore can camp on the riverbank overnight, then either paddle back the next day or continue 12 miles downriver to Bates Bridge landing. 

Fall asleep to the sounds of the swamp, with no cell service and no other humans for miles.