Congaree Fast Facts
How big is Congaree National Park?
Congaree covers a total area of 22,200 acres or 35 square miles.
How many people visit Congaree National Park?
215,181 people visited Congaree in 2021. A table showing all years can be found at Congaree Visitation Stats.
When was Congaree National Park created?
Congaree was made a national park on November 10, 2003.
What are the highest and lowest elevations in Congaree National Park?
Congaree’s lowest point is 80 feet at the Congaree River. The highest point in Congaree is 140 feet on Old Bluff Road.
What time zone is Congaree National Park located in?
Congaree is in the Eastern Time Zone.
How much does it cost to enter Congaree National Park?
There is no entrance fee for Congaree National Park.
Five Random Facts About Congaree
Congaree National Park preserves the largest area of old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States.
Congaree is a floodplain forest, not a swamp, despite its former name of Congaree Swamp National Monument. A floodplain is a low lying area near a river, covered by water only part of the year. A swamp is permanently covered with water.
Congaree’s floodplain forest has one of the highest temperate deciduous forest canopies in the world, with an average height of over 100 feet.
In 1983 International Biosphere Reserve status was given to the park as part of the South Atlantic Coastal Plain by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
Over 20,000 of Congaree National Park’s 22,200 acres are federally designated wilderness.
Where is Congaree National Park?
Congaree is in the state of South Carolina, right next to the major city of Columbia. Few national parks are so close to an urban center of this size. Further directions and maps can be found at Getting to Congaree.