Congaree National Park

Congaree National Park, about 20 miles southeast of downtown Columbia, protects an extraordinary expanse of old-growth floodplain forest. The champion trees here — bald cypresses, tupelo gums, loblolly pines — are among the tallest in the eastern United States, towering over a swampy forest floor that floods several times a year. The effect, especially in morning mist, is prehistoric.

The best introduction is the 2.4-mile elevated boardwalk loop that starts from the Harry Hampton Visitor Center. You can extend this into an all-day backcountry hike or a canoe trip through the floodplain waterways. Admission is free. The park is open year-round, but summer brings intense heat and mosquitoes — spring and autumn are better. Firefly watching in late May to early June, when synchronised fireflies flash in coordinated patterns, draws visitors from across the country.

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The park protects the largest intact old-growth bottomland hardwood forest remaining in North America. The trees here escaped logging because the land was too wet and flood-prone to harvest profitably — periodic flooding from the Congaree River is what shaped the forest, and the same floods that defeated loggers continue to reset the ecosystem today. After a major flood, the forest floor is carpeted with aquatic life stranded as the water recedes.