Trees with Knees

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Congaree National Park, Hopkins, South Carolina

Never heard of it, you say? Yeah, it certainly doesn't have the name cache that say Yellowstone, Yosemite, or even the Everglades has. But this small little park should be a destination park for anyone traveling through the Southeast.

Or if you are interested in trees! Some of the tallest trees in the eastern half of the continent, and several of the tallest known specimens of several species, are in this park. The tallest tree in the park is a 157 foot Loblolly Pine which is ten feet shorter than it used to be because a hurricane took off part of the crown. One can stare up to the top of this tree, but you have to hold on to someone or something to keep from losing your balance. And you can take a picture, although photographs just don't convey how awesomely high it is up there. We saw tall trees before, especially in Redwoods National Park. And these aren't as tall as those, but once you get this high, a few feet don't make much of a difference.

The setting, though, for these trees is dramatically different and that adds a must-see quality to this park. This is what one simply has to call a swamp. Technically scientists call this park the largest remaining old growth bottomland hardwood forest. Old-growth, because these are the original trees dating back centuries. Bottomland, because these types of forests form in the floodplains of river systems. With the exception of the Loblolly pine, these trees are all of the hardwood type. A few centuries ago, there were millions of acres of this kind of forest in the river valleys of the the Southeastern US and up the Mississippi River valley. We've managed to destroy almost all of it except what remains in this park and another state park to the south. Our demand for lumber and paper, and our penchant for building reservoirs, took these forests to their demise. (On the way to the park yesterday, we saw clearcutting underway in at least one location, and were passed by rucks hauling cut trees to the International Paper mill. Hopefully we are now cutting only managed forests, but who knows?)

The Congaree and Wateree rivers converge at the southeastern corner of this park but when they flood, the surrounding flatlands are inundated with water. In this park, flooding is now happening about twelve times a year (although not on a regular monthly cycle). The result is a swamp with water a constant presence. Add to that the detritus and decay of several centuries and you have muck that, in some spots, is eight feet thick. Although not exactly appealing, that muck provides a water purification system similar to how the Everglades works.

There are really just two options for exploring this park - on foot, or by canoe. When we planned this trip, Joan wasn't interested in canoes, so we didn't plan for that option, but we regret that decision now that we are 'accomplished canoeists' after the Buttonwood Canal experience in the Everglades. Unfortunately, they don't rent canoes in the park, so you have to bring your own or secure one from an outfitter in Columbia, less than an hour away. They have two canoe trails, a 50 miler for those who might want to camp in the wilderness, and a 9-miler for a day trip. (Although the thought of camping in a swamp just doesn't appeal to me, I would certainly encourage folks to do the shorter one.)

So, the only other option is to hike. There are about 50 miles of trails in the park, although the best introduction to the park is the 2.6 mile boardwalk loop. They were rebuilding part of the boardwalk, so the loop wasn't available to us, but we did walk down one side of the loop until we hit the construction area, and then walked back and around to the otherside of the construction zone. And then walked back up a non-boardwalk trail (Sims Trail). In total it was about 4 miles. And the girls were allowed on all trails, so they had a blast sniffing all these swamp smells.

In some parts, the boardwalk is well above the swamp, but in others the walk is just on top of the water and, in some instances, in it. Since it regularly floods here, hiking might be a little unpredictable - that's just the nature of this park, and one should see whatever you can see whenever you get here.

We saw swampland down in the Everglades. And there are similarities here. Lots of water, of course, and vegetation growing everywhere, but the character of that vegetation is very different. In the Everglades we had mangrove trees, here we have bald cypress, and tupelos. The cypress trees grow what they call 'knees'. These things look like tree stumps sticking up out of the water. Some can grow to be seven feet tall. They grow out of the tree's roots, but scientists do not understand what they are for. One theory is that they provide stability in storms (a necessity when the soil is mostly water). Another theory is that they provide breathing tubes for the roots to get oxygen. The largest bald cypress in the park is 27 feet in diameter at its base, an impressive tree by any measure.

Tupelos, oaks, ash, sweetgum, sycamore, hackberry, hickory and some 70 other species of trees are found in the park. Living among them are 60 reptile and 49 fish species - the swamp is a center of biodiversity, much like the Everglades.

Most people have never heard of this park, but they should. It is a place to see and appreciate nature at its best. (17.1.56)

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Photos

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Here's a Swamp

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Cypress 'Knees'

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A Closeup of a Knee

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Eight Feet of Muck

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Another View

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That's the Tallest LobLolly Pine

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Weston Lake

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You Don't See Forests Like This Anymore