130: Exploring Congaree National Park: Best Tips + Activities

Exploring the National Parks

Dirt In My Shoes

Science, Society & Culture:places & Travel, Nature, Places & Travel, Society & Culture

4.8 • 653 Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The swamp lights up like a galaxy, and the forest hums with life you can hear before you see. Congaree surprised us in the best way, and we left with our socks knocked clean off! In this episode, we cover: Where Congaree National Park is, how close it is to Columbia and Charleston, and why it’s still one of the least visited parks When to go, including mosquitoes, water levels, and why late March worked so well for us The boardwalk loop trail from the Harry Hampton Visitor Center, side trails, and what you’ll see along the way How to experience Cedar Creek by kayak or canoe and why we chose a guided tour Congaree’s synchronous fireflies, plus the lottery and timing compared to Great Smoky Mountains National Park Your task for today: Make sure to head over to the @DirtInMyShoes Facebook or Instagram page and let us know if you’re more excited to see the spiders or the snakes. Bonus points if you have been to Congaree and have stories to share! Planning your own Congaree adventure? Master Reservation List: https://www.dirtinmyshoes.com/list/ National Park Checklist: https://www.dirtinmyshoes.com/national-parks-checklist/ Trip Packing List: https://www.dirtinmyshoes.com/pack/ Don’t miss the full show notes packed with all the links we mentioned so you can plan your adventures like a pro: https://www.dirtinmyshoes.com/exploring-congaree-national-park-best-tips-activities/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Congaree is also somewhere where you can go and see these synchronous fireflies, and they are so impressive.
0:08.6	I mean, it's almost hard to describe how amazing it is.
0:12.9	Well, it is hard.
0:13.7	I can't put it into words.
0:15.2	How amazing it is to see this.
0:17.9	This is the Exploring the National Parks podcast with Dirt in My Shoes.
0:22.9	My name is Ash and I'm a former park ranger and the founder of Dirt in My Shoes.
0:27.2	I think that the parks are best seen from the trail and I'm here to make National Park
0:31.9	trip planning easy.
0:33.4	And I'm John.
0:34.4	I carry the kids on the trails.
0:36.3	I tell stories and notice all the things that Ash doesn't care about much, like flowers.
0:41.7	Join us as we show you around America's spectacular national parks.
0:46.2	We're sharing our favorite places, fun facts, adventures, and misadventures.
0:50.3	And we'll even throw in a little trip planning.
0:53.1	Let's start exploring.
1:01.1	Music And we'll even throw in a little trip planning. Let's start exploring. I don't necessarily have phobias that would have kept me from exploring this park, but I have near phobias that would have kept me from
1:12.6	exploring this park. It has kept us from exploring this park for a long time. Yes, exactly.
1:19.9	I growing up was always really afraid of spiders, and it wasn't until I married Ash that I...
1:27.4	Who is more afraid of spiders.
1:30.3	That I somewhat overcame that fear.
1:32.8	He had to step up and be the man.
	...

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