Hiking in Congaree National Park: A Dog Friendly National Park

South Carolina is home to Congaree National Park, which protects the nation’s largest remaining old-growth bottomland forest. With nearly 50 miles of hiking trails, here is why you should go hiking here. 

When people mention visiting a US National Park, the first images to pop in your head are often the stunning mountains of Yosemite National Park, Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, or the impressive desert environment of Zion National Park, etc.  But at Congaree National Park, you’re not getting these stunning views.

So while people aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to visit this park, here are a few reasons why you should visit and hike here.  Not only is the entire park dog friendly, but the park is free, close to major cities and even has kayaking throughout the park.  

Important Links (Map, State Park Website, Link to Camping Article)

• Congaree National Park Website
• Congaree National Park Trail Map/Guide
• Park Alerts – Closures and Warnings
• Dog Safety at Congaree National Park
• Canoeing/Kayaking in Congaree
• Camping in Congaree – Make Reservations Here (Tents Only!)

Fees

Congaree National Park is a free park!  All entrance fees are waived when visiting here.  Usually National Parks have an entrance fee of $35 for a week, but not at Congaree.

Camping does still have their fees, coming in at $15 per night at the Longleaf Campground and $10 per night at Bluff Campground.  And while these are for tent sites only, you can’t beat $10-$15 a night for a cheap weekend away!

Location

Congaree National Park is located just 30 minutes southeast of Columbia, SC, 2 hours northwest of Charleston, SC, and 2 hours south of Charlotte, NC.  Making this park an easy day trip from several major cities in the area.  

This also means that once you have your fill of the national park, you can check out the nearby city of Columbia or even hit up a brewery to celebrate a day of hiking.  

People are quick to call Congaree the “worst national park”, but the environment and wildlife that are protected here are what the national park program was all about!  Protecting and preserving our environments and history, which is exactly what Congaree National Park is doing.

But where should you park when visiting Congaree?

Parking

There is a decent amount of parking at the visitor’s center, but the lot will fill up on the weekends.  We arrived by 8:30 am on a Saturday, and by the time we returned to our truck after our hikes, people were circling the lot asking us if we were leaving.

You can simply type “Congaree National Park Visitor’s Center” into your favorite maps app, or you can use this address 100 National Park Rd, Hopkins, SC 29061. 

Visitor’s Center and a Touch of History

The Visitor’s Center is named after Harry Hampton, the avid outdoorsman and conservationist who was the first to fight for the preservation of Congaree.  What was then just called the Congaree Swamp, is now preserved and protected as a National Park.

Hampton’s original campaign in the 1950’s for protecting the swamp from development and deforestation was wildly unpopular.  While his fight was ultimately unsuccessful in his lifetime, Hampton laid the groundwork for future conservationists.

Congaree was finally protected when it became a National Monument in 1976 and then a National Park in 2003.  

The visitor’s center was named after the man who started it all and now houses many displays of the wildlife and trees seen in the park.  Here, Park Rangers will greet you and help direct your visit, all you have to do is ask.  

Time to Spend Here

Congaree National Park has nearly 50 miles of hiking trails, 15 miles of creek perfect for kayaking or canoeing, and 2 primitive campgrounds within its borders.  With all that jammed into 26,000 acres, you’re probably wondering how much time to spend here.  

Most people have their fill of Congaree within a day.  The trails can become repetitive and the mosquitoes are relentless.  We only spent about 4 hours here.

But if your mission is to camp here and hike as many of the trails as possible, you could spend up to a few days hiking the flat and easy trails.  

Below was our exact itinerary, so feel free to follow what we did if you only have a few hours to spend here

+Our Itinerary

My husband, our dog and I visited Congaree National Park in May of 2024.  Here is an approximate time-stamped list of what we did on our half day of hiking here. 

• 8:30 AM: Arrived at the parking lot before it became too full.  Used the restroom at Harry Hampton Visitor’s Center and put on bug spray.
• 9 AM: Started hiking the Boardwalk Trail.  This trail is easily the busiest and we wanted to do this loop without worrying about passing dozens of people in such close quarters.
• 10 AM: Picked up the Weston Lake Trail from the halfway point of the Boardwalk Trail.  We hiked this loop while being attacked by vicious mosquitoes the entire time.  We completed this loop on the Sims Trail, as we headed back to the Boardwalk Trail.
• 10:45 AM: We stopped at the Weston Lake Overlook and were able to see turtles and 2 alligators in the lake.
• 11 AM: We continued hiking the boardwalk trail back to the Visitor’s Center.  At this point the trail was very busy and we passed many other hikers.
• 11:30 AM: Popped into the Visitor’s Center to buy our magnets and stickers (I’m obsessed with National Park Stickers, but that’s a story for another day).  
• 12 PM: Left the parking lot and headed back to our nearby campground.  

Feel free to copy our itinerary if you only have a few hours to spend in Congaree National Park.  Or, if you want to hike more trails, go do your own thing when you visit.

List of Trails

• Boardwalk Trail – 2.6 Miles
• Bluff Trail – 1.8 Miles
• Sims Trail – 3.2 Miles
• Weston Lake Trail – 4.5 Miles
• Oakridge Trail – 7.1 Miles
• River Trail – 11.1 Miles
• Kingsnake Trail – 12.0 Miles
• Bates Ferry Trail – 2.2 Miles
• Longleaf Trail – 1.3 Miles
• Fork Swamp Trail – 0.6 Miles
• Firefly Trail – 1.8 Miles

Our Hike

My husband and I hiked the Boardwalk Trail, the Weston Lake Trail and part of the Sims Trail while we were in Congaree National Park.  While this is only about 10% of the trails located in Congaree, we truly felt like we had seen enough of the park.  

The trails were all flat and very easy.  We spent several hours walking through the woods and admiring the Cypress Trees.  We even saw some Pileated Woodpeckers and other birds along the trail.  

The Boardwalk Trail was, as it is named, made completely of boardwalks over top of the water and mud.  This loop begins right behind the Visitor’s Center and was a nice easy trail to start our morning.  Be Warned, this trail does get extremely busy and can feel a little tight at times.  

The Weston Lake Trail was nearly all a dirt/mud path with a few sections of bridges.  This trail led us past Weston Lake and along Cedar Creek.  To finish this loop, we picked up the Sims Trail and took that back to the  Boardwalk Trail. As we continued on that trail for the remaining 0.5 mile or so, we then made it back to our truck and left for the day.

Hiking with a Dog

Congaree National Park is one of the few national parks that allow dogs on the trails.  Dogs must be cleaned up after as well as kept on a 6 foot leash.  We had a blast walking our lab as she was able to burn off some energy.  

Since we went hiking in May, we had to make sure we brought plenty of water for both of us and for our dog.  The heat and humidity had her draining her water bowl a few times.  

I will say that if your dog is not friendly, this is not the place for her/him.  Particularly on the Boardwalk Trail, we had to pass many dogs and it was a little bit tight for 2 dogs and 2 owners passing each other.  

For a more comprehensive guide on hiking with dogs, check out my post Hiking with Dogs: Everything You Need to Know.  

Camping 

If you plan on camping in Congaree National Park, there are 2 campgrounds to choose from.  Unfortunately, they both exclusively offer primitive sites for tents only.  But if tenting is your game, let’s check out the campgrounds!

Longleaf Campground

Longleaf campground is located just before the Visitor’s Center in Congaree National Park.  It has 10 individual sites and 4 group sites and can only accommodate tents.  There is no running water or electric here, so you’ll definitely be roughing it!  There are 2 pit toilets and water can be acquired at the Harry Hampton Visitor’s Center up the road.  

This is a walk-in style campground with a parking lot for your car and then you will walk a short distance to your reserved site.  Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. The sites at Longleaf can be booked up to 6 months in advance at this website.

Bluff Campground

Bluff campground is located on the Bluff Trail in Congaree National Park.  There are 6 primitive campsites here and again, you will have to park your car at the instructed parking lot and hike to your spot while carrying your gear.  

There is no electricity here, no running water here, nor are there any bathroom facilities.  The pit toilets at Longleaf Campground and the bathrooms at the Visitor’s Center are the only bathrooms you will have access to.  You can also book this campground up to 6 months in advance at this website.  

While both of these campgrounds present a little too much roughing it for me, these sites are cheap and might be great for a night or two out in the wilds of Congaree National Park.

Our Campground

Because of the primitive nature of both Longleaf and Bluff, we decided to camp elsewhere.  We both prefer to have a bathroom running water and of course access to showers wherever we camp.

So I began the search for an affordable campground with Electric and Water hook-ups.  I also wanted to be able to visit Charleston for a day.  So we ended up camping at Buck Hall Recreation Area.  Buck Hall was about 2 hours and 15 minutes away from Congaree National Park, but for just $28 per night, it was worth the extra driving time!

You can read all about our stay at Buck Hall Recreation Area here.  

Conclusion

Congaree National Park protects the largest group of old-growth bottomland forest in the United States.  This South Carolina Park is far from the best national park, but it’s not the worst either.  With just under 50 miles of hiking trails, and a dog-friendly environment, you won’t want to miss hiking in Congaree National Park for a day.

We enjoyed our hikes in Congaree National park and the lush forest around us.  Plus we got to see a decent amount of wildlife and bring our dog.  But don’t forget that bug spray otherwise the mosquitos will eat you alive!  

Overall, Congaree National Park is definitely worth a day trip and if you have any questions about hiking in the park, feel free to reach out at averagewildexperience@gmail.com. 

Happy Hiking!