South Carolina: Congaree Swamp National Park

Congaree protects the largest remaining tract of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in North America. American beech, water tupelo, bald cypress, sweet gum & hickory trees dominate the forest canopy while switchgrass and dwarf palmettos are abundant in the understory. The Dorovan muck soil is a rich mixture of clay and organic material. As the Congaree River overflows its banks and floods the forest, it brings nutrients from upstream - further enriching the soil.

We arrived in late afternoon and walked the boardwalk until sunset - exiting the Park to the calls of  owls. When we tried to walk the boardwalk loop the next morning, we found that the rising Cedar Creek had put the lower end of the boardwalk under two feet of water overnight.