Congaree National Park, South Carolina - Home of the Champion Trees

Cypress Swamp -Congaree National Park - South Carolina

“Some people walk in the rain – others just get wet”

Roger Miller

Sometimes you come across a place that is so foreign to you and incredible that it captivates your imagination long after you have left the place and it leaves you yearning to return, even if you are not sure why. Congaree National Park is one of those places for me. Congaree is a natural old growth bottom land hard wood forest, in fact it is one of the only pieces of old growth forest left. It is located about 45 min south of Columbia, South Carolina along the Congaree River. Once upon a time not too long ago, South Carolina and several of the other Atlantic & Southern States were covered with old growth hard wood forests. There were 1,000,000 acres in South Carolina alone. In the mid-1800s however, the loggers came in droves and like many other areas of American History, the appetite for development, wealth and industrialization came at a heavy cost. It only took 50 years for the log men to decimate the ancient forests. To give you an idea of the total destruction of this forest consider this. Congaree is the largest protected piece of forest left in the State and it consists of only 26,000 acres – which is 974,000 acres less than the previous number I mentioned. In spite of those dreadful facts, Congaree is an amazing place. It is home to the greatest concentration of “Champion Trees” in North America.

Congaree National Park - South Carolina

What is a Champion Tree you might ask? Well, a Champion Tree is the largest documented specimen of its genre and there are 25 different species of State Champions at Congaree. There are 6 National Champion Trees and the four tallest are a 167 foot Loblolly Pine, a 162 foot Cherry Bark Oak, 162 foot Swamp Tupelo, and a 160 foot tall Sweet gum. There is an intricate system of trails, boardwalks and even elevated boardwalks which are necessary in many places as the low land swamps are prone to flooding annually. When I visited Congaree it was late on a December afternoon and it was raining. I decided that I didn’t care about the rain so I parked my vehicle and went in to the visitor’s center to talk to the ranger for advice. I stated that I wanted a good hike and I asked about the 4.5 mile Weston Lake Loop Trail. The female ranger told me that this was a beautiful hike but that it would be dark in an hour. I told her that I didn’t care about the dark or the rain but she stated that while the trail system is open 24 hours, even so, when it gets dark in the swamp, it gets pitch black and under the giant trees you can’t even see the stars. I took pause then for a moment but then I remembered I had a good flashlight in my camera bag so I put a sweatshirt on over my shirt, grabbed my flashlight and a bottle of water, and headed off into the rainy swamp. For the first .5 mile I was on a board walk and the rain really started to fall steady. It was kind of cold but my plan was that if I kept moving at a good clip, I would generate body heat and stay warm. I finally came to the end of the boardwalk where the Weston Lake trail turns to a dirt path and this is where it got interesting. The trail was covered with matted wet fallen leaves and somewhat difficult to follow.

Rain coming down - Congaree National Park - South Carolina

There was Spanish moss hanging from the high branches in the trees and it was swaying slowly with the wind. There were Bald Cypress Trees rising from the muck and pools of water that had a wide base that quickly tapers as they reach skyward from the swamp. These trees have enormous root systems that protect them from the water and from blow downs. These roots rise up all around the trees in short stalagmite looking brown and red sharp spires which along with the parent tree, make up a completely alien looking landscape. As I ran down the trail racing daylight, I noticed that I could look deep into the forest and believed that this was due to it being winter and all of the leaves being off of the trees. However, park literature states that the tall trees block out the sun and as a result there is little undergrowth. I noticed different smells of rot and decay in the forest – old log, rich mud, piled wet leaves, frog swamp and other distinct and different smells. Some were quite pleasing, some were quite otherwise. There were lightning blasted snags and wind toppled large trees. There was pooled water everywhere on the trail and with each step there was a splash but it didn’t matter because the rain had been falling steadily since the beginning of my hike. It is said that the forest canopy at Congaree is taller than any other deciduous forest in the World. It is an amazing thing to walk and run beneath and between those giants. It was quiet in most areas of the forest save for the pitter patter of the rain on branches and leaves and me.

Interesting moss and lichens - Congaree National Park - South Carolina

My ball cap was completely soaked and water was dripping from its rim. I passed through the forest stealthily and as I did so I thought of the Congaree and Wateree Indians who used to live in this area. I imagined them moving along between the Bald Cypress trees in their canoes. I also thought of the Patriot General Francis Marion who is known locally in South Carolina as the “Swamp Fox”. Marion is said to be the father of Guerrilla warfare as he would harass Cornwallis and his British troops during the Revolutionary War and then disappear into the Swamps where the British dared not follow. Marion was a constant pain in the axe for Banister Tarleton who was a brutal British Officer. The Mel Gibson movie “The Patriot” is based on General Marion, Tarleton and the Battle of Cowpens. I thought of all of these things as I ran through the rain in the swamp. I noticed all kinds of vines in the forest. Some coiled up the tree like a black snake. Others were thick as small trees themselves and they climbed up the giant trees to a great height where they were hanging in the lofty branches. In some areas vines hung down every which way and created layers of curtains and mayhem which looked impossible to get through and were dark and creepy too. Some were brown and hairy and literally fused to the tree climbing up it like a rope. Others still were tiny and looked like blood veins with some bright green leaves growing out of them. There were large white shelf fungus and the saying the “Fungus is among us” would apply in Congaree because there are dozens of different kinds and colors of fungi all over the old fallen logs and growing near the bases of the trees.

Strange Fungi - Congaree National Park - South Carolina

According to the information in the visitors center, the swamp is full of creatures – snails, skinks, raccoon, crayfish, salamander, opossum, turtles, ducks, river otters, tree frogs, bull frogs, snakes, snapping turtle, gar, catfish and white tailed deer. Because the area always floods, the Indians called it Congaree which means “Dragging the bottom of the boat” which they certainly sometimes did as the depth of the water was constantly and is still constantly fluctuating. At one point I came to an area where there was so much bird chatter in the rain that it was loud, completely annoying and it made me a little angry. I was moving quickly but quietly along the trail and I surprised a couple of jet black fat wild boar. When they noticed me they let out with some funny grunts and took off into the forest. I also startled a pair of white tail deer. They jumped and their pointed triangle shaped white tails stood straight up as they took off through the forest. The trail system here is marked quite well with different colored blaises depending on what trail you are on. The Weston Lake Trail is the yellow trail so I followed the yellow blaises. It could be easy to get lost in the swamp and if you do, you could wander in circles forever. There is no terrain feature to aid in navigation here and the forest all looks the same. It is very difficult to determine direction here. Several times I lost the trail and started to get concerned because I had no desire to wander around like a fool in the dark swamp in the rain.

Another season's decay - Congaree National Park - South Carolina

Thankfully, I would always pick up another yellow blaise through the growing darkness. I wondered to myself, how did the Congaree and the Swamp Fox know how to navigate in here? In some areas there were solitary GIANT Loblolly Pine. The strange thing is they were individuals. All alone with not another tree of their species within sight. The bases of the different kinds of trees were covered in bright green moss and there were eerie reflections of the trees on the water as if in clean glass on the side of a building. The rain drops would shatter these images and make concentric circles that would radiate from the center of the droplet. I finally reached Weston Lake and picked up the boardwalk again. I had gone over 3.5 miles in about an hour and a half in the rain. Good time considering I stopped a hundred times to take my camera out and shield the rain with my hat while I snapped a picture. Weston Lake is an old abandoned ox bow lake – a former stretch of the Congaree River which has long since been abandoned by the rivers route. I was now on elevated boardwalk passing through American Elm, Dwarf Palmetto and all kinds of other interesting vegetation. As I ran down this stretch in the rain, bright red Cardinals would come and land a bit in front of me on the guard rail in the silence and then take off when I got close. They were not panicked, they moved when the wanted too and seemed curious as to the purpose of my presence. This happened three times. There are no Cardinals in the west so seeing these beautiful birds up close in the silence of a light rain in the near dark was something I will never forget. I noticed the letters “BSA Troop 199” carved into the floor of the boardwalk in various places so I figure that the boys of that troop have been helping in the daunting task of maintaining a very complex elevated boardwalk system in the swamp.

When I finally got back to the visitors center, completing my 4.5 mile walk / run, it was pitch dark and I was soaked. I had done it. I ran through the swamp in the rain, I didn’t let the bad weather spoil my day or turn me away. It was an enjoyable thing having the swamp to myself in the rain. I didn’t see another soul on the trail. If you ever get a chance, visit Congaree – rain or shine and visit with the ancient trees, and possibly with the ghosts of the Swamp Fox and the Congaree.
For more information:

www.nps.gov/cong