Congaree National Park is easily the largest, and in my opinion, one of the best parks in South Carolina’s Midlands region. 
With over 26,000 acres to explore, it doesn’t matter if you are a casual sightseer or an avid outdoorsman, Congaree will have something for you. 
While the park might be best known for its 2-mile elevated boardwalk that loops around a rare cypress swamp, the park also has over 20 miles of backcountry trails, a 15-mile kayak trail along Cedar Creek, and countless ponds and holes perfect for fishing. 
Despite all of this, I haven’t spent much time at the park myself. So a few weeks ago, a couple of friends and I sought out to change that.             It was very early on a Saturday morning when my friends, Noah and David, and I met up at Congaree National Park, located about 30 minutes outside of Columbia, for another hike. 
The sun was just rising as we glanced at the trail map outside the visitor center at around 7 am. Our plan was to hike about 8 miles out to the Congaree River and back before it got to the days high of 93 degrees. 
We started our hike from the main visitor center. We would spend our first half mile along the raised boardwalk. 
The surrounding swamp was magical with the bright early morning sun glistening off the underlying swamp, creating a brilliant contrast of bright green canopy and the darker cypress knee infested swamps.
The boardwalk is perfect for 1st-time visitors or just the casual hiker. It allows for easy and safe access to one of South Carolina’s most unique ecosystems. 
After half a mile, we took a backcountry trail into the Congaree wilderness. 
The trail weaved through the thick floodplain for another half mile or so before reaching Cedar Creek. 
The small creek weaves through the dense floodplains of the Congaree for nearly 30 miles in the park and is just big enough to kayak. In fact, we hope to kayak the creek soon. 
We planned to cross the creek and continue to the river, about 3 miles away. However, take caution because, as we would soon find out, It’s very easy to get lost and trail maintenance can be spotty on the far side of the creek. We trekked on past the creek, into the mysterious and critter filled floodplains of Congaree. 
Pretty soon, we reached another small wooden bridge over a small dry gully. When we looked down the gully right into the early morning sun behind the towering Cypress trees, we noticed Wise Lake.
Because the small gully was dry, we were able to walk straight up the lake, along the way capturing some great pictures. 
We goofed around for a few minutes before getting back onto the trail and continuing towards the river.
Over the next hour and a half, as we ventured deeper into the floodplains of the Congaree, the trail condition continued to degrade and we managed to get lost several times.                By now, we were also starting to feel that harsh South Carolina heat radiate down on us. 
With a little backtracking and map-checking, we were able to find the trail. It’s always a good idea to save a picture of a trail map or use a trail map app like AllTrails to stay on the path. 
Finally, after 4.4 long miles, we reached the Congaree River. We sat down on a bluff overlooking a wide bend river in the lazy river. The day had turned out perfect, besides the heat, with gorgeous blue skies. We enjoyed the view for about 30 minutes before turning back.
On the way back we decided to venture off the trail just a little, we traded the hard to navigate and itchy trail for a nice, wide, and at the time dry gully for about a mile.         When the gully ended, we sprinted into the thick undergrowth, racing to find the trail. Once we found the trail, we covered the next couple of miles fairly quickly. By now it was unbearably hot so we were ready to get out of there. 
Thankfully, the rest of our hike went off without a hitch, although we did have a good scare with an Alligator Snapping Turtle blocking our path. 
Noah, David, and I left the park feeling accomplished by our 8.8-mile hike and we hope to return soon to kayak along Cedar Creek. 
Congaree National Park is the perfect place for any outdoor enthusiast looking for an adventurous day trip. It’s extremely close to Columbia, has great amenities such as the Boardwalk Loop, the informative Harry Hampton Visitor Center, and knowledgeable rangers who can help you find the perfect way to explore the park.