Congaree National Park and Shaw AFB, South Carolina

June 23rd, we left Barnyard RV Park and headed toward Congaree National Park. When we lived at Shaw AFB, SC in 1988-1989, there was no Congaree National Park, so I was curious to find out what this was in Hopkins.

We arrived early in the morning and went to the large vehicle parking lot. If you have a large 5th wheel, I'd suggest the same thing because you can't park in the lot unless you swing around and park near the treeline as the parking is pull in for Class A and C vehicles. There are no pull thru sites. Once we get out, we poured water over all the dogs so they wouldn't overheat. The prior days were horrible for them and we hoped the would walk farther this way. It worked.

The Congaree Harry Hampton Visitor Center is named for the man who helped save Congaree and is just a short walk from the parking area. It has a greeting station and very minimal exhibit area and a movie area. The majority of Congaree's 20,000 acres is forest and swamp. There are also ranger programs that lead off from here. The rangers at the Visitor Center priority is to keep the park in pristine condition. There is also a Junior Ranger program at Congaree. I asked the rangers how long this was a national park and they said it became on in 2003 after we left Shaw AFB. He said it used to be called "The Swamp" back in the day and I did remember "Congaree Swamp" from our Air Force days.

The walk through Congaree National Park is a 2.4 miles round trip boardwalk walk with easy access to the entire park. The only problem we came across is that if we stopped for even 5 seconds to take a photo in the swamp, we were attacked by mosquitoes! This was not pleasant so we had to walk quickly so not to be attacked and eaten alive! The morning was hot and humid and before we got back to the RV we were drenched in sweat. Today the mosquito level was "ruthless". Uh oh.

There are many hiking trails through Congaree as well: The Bluff Trail from the campgrounds, Oak Ridge Trail, River Trail, Weston Lake Trail, Kingsnake Trail (and yes, there are snakes there!) and Sims Trail. Trail Information can be found here. We stuck with the Boardwalk hike and took the girls with us. Other things to do at Congaree is camp, canoe, hike and fish.

We did the brown boardwalk trail.

The Boardwalk Trail is a 2.4 mile round trip trail as I mentioned earlier and begins at the Visitor Center with an elevated section that leads down into the old-growth bottomland hardwood forest. There are many variety of trees including tupelo trees and bald cypress in the lowest elevations. Loblolly Pines, Oaks, Maples. Sweetgum, Beech, Dwarf Palmetto and Holly can be seen as well. Not only that, but Congaree is home to hundreds of species of plants, animals, insects, reptiles, flowers from hogs, deer, squirrels to fireflies, butterflies, dragonflies to woodpeckers and warblers. It is home to anole, snakes, and skinks; crayfish, blue herons, and gorgeous ferns, etc. Just many species as well as the largest remnant of old-growth floodplain forest in the United States and that is a fancy way of saying "swamp forest".

The boardwalk has bench along the way and it's wheelchair accessible. There is a self-guided brochure you should grab before you start the hike so you know what you're looking at. The bad thing about this hike is that there are NO trash cans along the way so you have to pack out what you bring in. Unfortunately, Roxy had to poop and the poop bag we had didn't open so I have to collect her feces with an unopened bag and hold it for nearly 2 miles, which wasn't pleasant and take photos at the same time. Yick.

So, let's walk the boardwalk and I'll share a few photos. Many of the photos look the same, so I'll only highlight a few. Scott was the hit of the trail with every kid we came across. They all had to stop and pet the girls...The area is very swampy...thus the reason for all the mosquitoes but it was a beautiful hike full of vegetation and the sounds of nature.

We really enjoyed our visit here. I'd suggest that you do this park in early spring or late autumn when the mosquitoes are less prevalent. I've seen photos of people doing this park in the winter months with the rain when the boardwalk can flood with inner tubes and jackets. Regardless, it's a beautiful swamp and we're glad we went.

After we left Congaree, we drove a half hour over to Shaw AFB before finishing our day at Lumberton KOA Campground.

This was our house in 1989 before Hurricane Hugo hit.
We all huddled in the second floor room where the little window is on the side of the house.
I was 8 months pregnant with Kyle and Scott was at the convenience store.
I had to put a mattress against the window.
Thinking about that now, it would have been safer to be on the bottom floor but the kids were sleeping
and I put everyone in one room for the night while I stayed awake listening to windows breaking around me and siding torn off.

Here is Becky riding her bike in the court.

When I looked our old address on Google, it should have been 5403-A Banyon Circle but now it's a street. Back when we lived here during Hurricane Hugo in 1989, it was a court or cul-de-sac. Things changed so I wanted to see what the changed were. Back in 1989, the base housing was outside the Air Force fence but when we drove over, the housing was now in the fenced part of the base so we couldn't see the house. They must have changed things after 9-11. We were disappointed. During Hurricane Hugo, Scott moonlighted at a 7-Eleven type store and it was gone now as well. All our memories are just etched in our minds...it was just too bad we couldn't see how it was now. The military must have torn down a few houses to make way for the street because a duplex used to stand there the road intersects now.

Close up how you used to get to our house off Sycamore St.
We lived on the corner of Banyon and Sycamore where the dot is.

The kids are in the center of the court here...now it's a street!
Where the 4 is on the red dot below is there they are, so this unit behind us must have been removed.