Congaree National Park Swamp South Carolina Retro

When the sunsets on the swamps of Congaree National Park, the fireflies light up the sky. Congaree National Park, located in central South Carolina, was established as a national monument in 1976 and became a national park in 2003, protecting one of the largest intact tracts of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in the United States. The park’s highlights include the Boardwalk Loop Trail, which allows visitors to explore the swampy forest floor and its towering champion trees, and canoeing or kayaking along Cedar Creek for an immersive experience of the park’s waterways. Wildlife sightings, such as river otters, barred owls, and a variety of reptiles and amphibians, are also a major draw to this biodiverse floodplain ecosystem.