Congaree National Park

The Congaree National Park - tucked away in an obscure back corner of a little community I wouldn't feel comfortable walking around in (not that there were all that many places to walk around). It took about 15 minutes of driving on interstate highway, another 20-ish minutes of driving on South Carolina 48, and three more turns (but reletively short distance between them) before you're on the driveway to the national park. My first impression was that this place wasn't much different than any other stretch of woods I've explored in my life, and my expectation levels were starting to diminish. After about 5 minutes of the driveway, I reached the parking area - I passed through a gate, but there was no guard or anyone to collect any sort of parking or admission fee. Okay, the parking is free - 1 point for Congaree National Park.

After I got out of my truck, I noticed that just behind a relalively thin layer of trees there was a long visitor's center. It had a cool kind of feel to it. It was inviting. As I walked up to it, it started to feel like a lot of rest stops on the highway feel. You have a covered walkway with bathrooms on the right and the actual Visitor's Center on the right. In this little walkway there are maps up on the walls, and if I remember right, there was a water fountain. But, still...nothing that made me think that this was going to be all too exciting. I mean, I left the house this morning with the intention of capturing some pictures. But, there didn't seem to be anything tat was standing out all that much. So, instead of walking into the Visitor's Center, I decided that I was going to just go ahead,

 and hit one of the trails (I was still hopeful that I would find something cool and unique).

The trails start out on a boardwalk. According to the map (which I picked up on my way out of the park), this boardwalk is a loop that goes for a total of about 2.2 miles. You can exit the boardwalk at one point (I'm not sure if there are more than one exit or not) and it leads to a couple trails. The first two are, the one I went on today, Bluff Trail, and the other is Dog Trail, where you can (as the name suggests) bring your dog(s).

Seeing as I didn't stop to pick up a map (before setting out), and I wasn't sure how much time I could spend out in the woods by myself today, I decided to just keep going on the first trail I saw so I headed down Bluff Trail. At the entrance of the trail, I heard what sounded like a man hitting a wood board with a hammer and almost thought nothing of it. But, I decided to investi

gate a little and found a woodpecker! The one picture I caught of him is hard to see, but if you look close enough and in the center you might be able to see him (I definitely need to get an actual telephoto lense! An 18mm-70mm is fine for most things, but didn't work so well with this woodpecker). The rest of my walk, though, was pretty uneventful. I caught a few more pictures of trees, but there were no other animals that I ran into. No streams (but one, and the water wasn't moving) or anything. So, after about 20 minutes, I turned around and went back. 

I figured before I leave, I better go into the Visitor's Center just to check it out. I'm glad I did. There is a lot more to this place than I thought at first. They offer all kinds of classes and tours: Owl Prowl - 2 hour guided walk on a Friday night, looking for owls; Guided Canoe Tour on Saturdays and Sundays, a 2 hour guided tour about forest canopies; a Backyard Bird Feeding; Birding 101 -a class; a hike that teaches about how the "Champion Tree" process works - how they're determined, etc. After reading the brochure, I am excited to come back with Nicole or maybe even my dad or brothers.

At the Visitor's Center is where I picked up the map of the park and saw all the trails. I am especially interested in checking out the 10 mile hike that goes by the Congaree River.

But, hey - a lesson was learned: always go to the Visitor's Center first. You never know what you might be missing out on if you don't ask what a place has to offer. According to the map, I was definitely on the least exciting and the shortest trail in the park. They have lakes and swamps, and all kinds of animals out there - all I had to do was ask. And it's all free!