Southeast of Columbia is South Carolina’s only national park: Congaree National Park. It is 26,000 acres in size and has the largest remaining old growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. It is bottomland, referred to as a floodplain, subjected to plenty of rain recently, and what others may call a swamp. You walk along a boardwalk which the day I visited was partially underwater. The walk takes you under the largest concentration of “champion trees” in the world. Very tall examples of 15 species include a 167 foot loblolly pine, 157 foot sweetgum, 154 foot cherrybark oak, and others. The birds were chirping. I also heard frogs and the snakes usually slithered away before I got a real good look. It was a pleasant walk in the shade and not buggy!

It was interesting when I walked toward the visitor center upon my arrival. I saw a sign encouraging people to apply their insect spray on themself in the parking lot. They wanted insect spray away from the park’s fireflies. I soon learned about synchronous fireflies! Mid-May to Mid-June 3 species of fireflies at this park display synchronous flashing while they search for a mate. This phenomenon is a popular evening event at the park and people participate in a lottery to get a pass to the event. There are 2,000 species of fireflies world-wide, but only 3 at this park. 

Here are some photos from my visit at the park:

Plenty of other trails to hike. Ranger-led hikes are each Saturday morning and afternoon. For a small park there is plenty of activity and parking lots were full the weekend day I was there. I’d love to return and see those fireflies!