favorite places
Congaree National
Park
Hopkins, South Carolina
Text & Photography By QT LuongLocation
Located in South Carolina, just a half-hour’s drive from the
capital city of Columbia, Congaree National Park preserves
the largest remaining old-growth bottomland forest in North
America. Congaree isn’t exactly a swamp, because most of the
time no standing water covers the floor, but the Congaree River
floods the area about 10 times per year. This lesser-known
and uncrowded park combines the watery environment of
the Everglades with the towering old-growth forests of the
West. It’s a small 41 square miles, but you can’t explore it by
driving. Hiking and canoeing are the only ways to immerse
yourself in the primeval forest.
Starting from the visitor center, the flat, easy 2.4-mile Board-
walk Loop Trail is the obvious introduction to the park. The
first section is elevated as much as 6 feet, while the second
section rests directly on the forest floor, offering a close view
of mysterious cypress knees. Along the Bluff Trail (1.7 miles),
you’ll discover a forest of pines made distinct from the bottom-
land forest by just a tiny elevation difference. In late May, you
can observe synchronous fireflies there within a more relaxed
environment than at Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Paddling on Cedar Creek provides you with a unique per-
spective and a memorable experience. The park offers free
guided canoe tours or you can rent from outfitters in Columbia.Weather
Congaree has a humid subtropical climate. In the spring and fall,
temperatures (in the 70s) and humidity (3 inches of monthly
precipitation) are moderate. Summer is hot (in the 90s) and
humid, with frequent thunderstorms (4.5 inches of monthly
precipitation), and brings lots of mosquitoes. Winters are mild
(daytime 50s, snow and freezing night temperatures possible).
At that time, flooding, favorable for photography, is the most
likely to occur, but the trees are bare.Photo Experience
In Congaree, open views are relatively rare, so most of the time
you’ll be photographing deciduous forest scenes with the addi-
tional creative possibilities offered by water. Moderate wide-angle
to telephoto lenses are enough. Even if you come when the forestisn’t flooded, you can still find water in creeks and lakes. In dry
conditions, my favorite spot is Weston Lake, an abandoned chan-
nel of the Congaree River where I photographed trees growing
out of the water, emblematic of the South. The Boardwalk Trail
ends there, but to find more viewpoints, I continued along the
shores of Weston Lake on the 2-mile Weston Lake Loop Trail.
On that day, with variable weather, I waited for a cloud to obscure
the sun and lower the contrast so that the trees back in the forest
would be visible, adding a bit of depth to the photograph. OPSee more of QT Luong’s work at terragalleria.com.30 Outdoor Photographer outdoorphotographer.com