There is a beautiful national park in South Carolina. The Congaree National Park is visited by approx. 125,000 visitors annually and covers an area of 88 km². See a2zdirectory for tourist attractions in South Carolina.
It should be emphasized that Congaree National Park has one of the last large stocks of hardwood forests in America. These forests are characterized by the fact that they grow in swamp areas and become particularly high. This makes them the highest natural roof surfaces in the world!
The Congaree National Park is relatively young. The park was founded in October 1976. However, it did not receive national park status until November 10, 2003.
Anyone visiting the Congaree National Park will be surprised by the simplicity of the park. It is an important nature reserve for plants and animals. Therefore, there are only simple campsites for visitors, no hotels or other accommodations. Furthermore, you have the opportunity to discover nature on hiking trails or to find out more about the park by canoeing. The Congaree National Park is particularly popular with bird watchers.
The history of the Congaree National Park
In the past, prehistoric people used the area to hunt fish. Later, during the seafaring days, the Spaniards met the region. The navigator Hernando de Soto was the first to venture into the area of the Congaree National Park. The European settlers arrived around 1700. The settlers used the land for agriculture and cattle breeding until 1860. The Congaree area became an agricultural area. However, there were repeated floods, and large parts of the area consist of swamp.
Many trees were felled and transported down the rivers. It was later decided that the slowly growing trees should not be felled. The stock was left alone for 10 years to allow the forest to relax.
In 1969, however, timber prices rose so high that private landowners started clearing again. Eventually, however, it was recognized that the land had to be protected and so the area of the Congaree became a national monument in 1976.
Since then, the park has repeatedly fought against the forces of nature. Hurricane Hugo caused severe damage to the forests in 1989. Many large trees fell victim to the huge hurricane. As dramatic as the damage was, the result after the storm was astonishing. Hugo broke off many treetops, thinning out the forest almost naturally and more sunlight penetrated into the lower forest regions. This encouraged the growth of younger, even smaller trees. The forest grew back faster and stronger. So the animals and plants that live there today were able to develop better and many new bird species came to the Congaree National Park. Today this is particularly famous for the biodiversity of the feathered friends.
