Congaree National Park

After a quick breakfast at the Sleep Inn, we drove to the nearby Congaree National Park. Congaree was first established as Congaree Swamp National Monument in 1976, and became a full-fledged national park in 2003. Congaree protects the largest remaining tract of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in North America. We watched a short film about the park and then hiked the 2.4 mile boardwalk loop, swatting away pesky mosquitoes along the way. During the hike we learned  a lot of fun facts about the forest, and saw some turtles and a skink. We also spied some very tall loblolly pine trees, one over 150 feet tall, as well as bald cypress trees, which live to be over 1,000 years old, and water tupelos, which have swollen trunks and grow only where water is plentiful. Clare was very happy with the stop and Conor was able to take some great photos using the skills he learned at the Temple photography class he took this summer.




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