We have started a tradition in our family of taking a big trip instead of a gift for our children the year they graduate high school. We started really big with my oldest a couple of years ago by taking a seven-week, once-in-a-lifetime cross-country trip as a family.
My daughter knew that her trip this year could not be that long, but she got to choose the location and plan the adventures. She chose Florida and among other things, we fit in visits to three national parks!
(For this series, I will use the term National Park to mean any park site, including historic sites, monuments, etc.)
I shared a couple of weeks ago about Everglades and Biscayne; today I want to share a bit about our stop at Congaree National Park in South Carolina.
*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *
Wait, I thought you said Florida?
If you are familiar with Congaree, you may be thinking that I said a trip to Florida, but Congaree is in South Carolina.
We had the opportunity to visit Congaree on our way south to Florida. We only had a few hours, but we enjoyed our time there.
Features of Congaree National Park
Congaree is a beautiful old growth bottomland hardwood forest, the largest expanse left in the southeastern United States. There is a ton of biodiversity in plants and animals to see as you explore this park.
First Stop: Harry Hampton Visitor Center
We arrived only a few minutes before the visitor center was closing, but we had time to go inside and take a quick look at the displays and information. Of course, we also had to take a minute and get our passports stamped!
There were displays about the various plants and animals found in Congaree National Park. Their favorite display was a model of one of the large bald cypress trees that are found there.
As with most National Parks, I recommend stopping at the visitor center first. The visitors center has a small educational display with information about the various plants and animals that live in the forest and rivers of Congaree.
In addition, this is where you can get your National Park Passport stamped and pick up any Junior Ranger books you need.
There are also restrooms, water fountains, and a gift shop available. (Of note, the main restrooms close at 5 with the visitor center, but there is a single restroom that remains open 24/7. )
Hiking in Congaree
Since we arrived later in the day, we were a little more limited in what we could explore before the sunset, but we still had the opportunity to take a great hike through the bottomlands and see some of the wonderful diversity this park has to offer.
We hiked part of the boardwalk trail, which is an easy 2.6 mile trail that leaves from the visitors center and is wheelchair and stroller friendly (though a few spots would be more challenging).
As noted by its name, much of this trail was a boardwalk and it took us right into the bottomlands. We saw a variety of birds, turtles, and other animals. The bald cypress and tupelo trees make up much of the forest, but there are also pines and other trees.
Do note that the mosquitoes can be quite thick and you should be prepared with insect repellent before heading out.
Things to do in Congaree
We only had time for the short hike and a nice picnic dinner in the parking lot. (One of the many benefits of having a camper is bringing our kitchen where ever we go. ) However, the park offers many other trails, water ways for canoeing or kayaking, and fishing. My son was a bit disappointed he did not have time to fish, but we promised we would try to plan another trip to Congaree when we had more time.
Learning in Congaree
In addition to the obvious nature and science study of the trees, animals, and ecosytem, there is also history to learn from Congaree. Native Americans had settlements in the area long before European settelers, and then the first European settlement was an unsuccessful Spanish settlement.
There is also a rich history of the area being used as a place of escape for runaway slaves, who could hide in the swampy bottomlands.
If you get a chance to visit Congaree National Park, let me know how you like it.
Don’t forget to take your park passport and get it stamped! We have found that the passport is a great way for the children to collect souvenirs at each park, with no additional expense beyond the initial purchase.
Basic Information
Where:
100 National Park Road
Hopkins, SC 29061
Hours of Operation:
The park lands are open 24/7 year-round, but the Harry Hampton visitors center is open 9:00-5:00.
Costs: Free for entrance and use, fees for camping.
Homeschool Discount: If you have a fourth grader, you can get a free annual pass for your family to all the National Park sites, but that is not needed at this site.
Website: https://www.nps.gov/cong/index.htm
Food: There are a few snacks sold in the gift shop, but no restaurant on site. There are some picnic areas available.
Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure
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This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.
Deals and Freebies
Schoolhouse Teachers is now offering a lifetime option! They are a great place for a one stop shop curriculum or a way to have a lot of options to fill in different electives and courses into what you have already chosen.
Nature Study Sale! Our favorite nature study resource (other than the national parks themselves) is on sale right now. t takes all the prep work out of our study and helps us to dig a little deeper. They are having a sale right now (and that doesn’t normally happen), so I wanted to share. Just click here and use the codes in the picture!
Tuttle Twins is offering a great sale right now on several different book sets and they have their brand new business course for elementary school!
Did you know next week is Shark Week? Check out this free family guide to turning Shark Week into science fun for the whole family.
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