Congaree National Park guide · 1 min read
Birding Congaree's Important Bird Area
Congaree National Park is recognized as an Important Bird Area, and birders are among its most devoted visitors.
Bird watching is one of the main things to do here, alongside hiking and paddling. Whether you come with binoculars or just a good pair of ears, the forest and wetlands offer plenty to notice.
Pileated woodpeckers are common here, and you can spot them with little effort, even on the boardwalk beside the Harry Hampton Visitor Center. The Boardwalk Loop covers 2.4 miles of swampy ground on an elevated walkway, keeping visitors above the soil and protecting the fungi and plants growing at ground level.
Wild turkeys turn up deeper into the park, and small songbirds are easy to find along the trails. Hawks are seen less often, though one now and then drifts into view. An osprey is a possible sighting along the river, so it is worth scanning the sky above the water.
The Kingsnake Trail, an 11.1-mile route, has been a favorite for birding, and some visitors use the Merlin app to identify the calls they hear. Hikers there may also come across deer, raccoon, and opossum tracks. All of this unfolds in old-growth bottomland hardwood forest, the largest intact stretch of this forest type still standing in the southeastern United States. Bald cypress, tupelo, and loblolly pines grow here.
