My Epic National Park Bucket List Journey Episode 9; The South

Join me across the southern states to national park #45 on my quest to visit all 63; Congaree National Park in South Carolina. This small hidden gem in the heart of the state is a worthwhile stop if you are a bird-watcher or if you love to hike. This would be a day trip for most, but I made it into an overnighter and tent camped. I haven’t been tent camping in YEARS! Next episode, I’ll get to touchpoint #3 (the Atlantic Ocean) on my way to National Park #46; the Great Smoky Mountains!
Timing note:,keep in mind that I’m actually about a week ahead of these episodes, so the recent tornadoes in the south took place after I left the area. I’m watching the weather closely, especially after what happened in Episode 6 at Guadalupe Mountains National Park!

[@SpiritualEldercare]

I was enjoying this but the expiration date put it over the top :D Good for you for tent camping! You're an inspiration!

[@gregoutandabout]

I needed a couple days to catch up on my sleep, and my back was messed up for a bit. I'm OK now though! Totally worth it!😀

[@cherip4573]

Still enjoying your travels. I was wondering what is your timeline? What is the average time you are spending at each of your stops? Thinking that I may be able to talk some friends into doing something similar in the near future.

[@gregoutandabout]

It really depends! Congaree NP was small enough to see in a day. Big Bend, you need at least a week! Between parks, roughly I looked at the drive time and divided the time so I wouldn’t be driving more than 2-3 hours per day. This has given me a lot of options for routes (even weather related detours) or seeing places I hadn’t planned, like Stone Mountain.

[@bobgrabowski2232]

Are u getting ur passport book stamps at each national park or are you just taking pictures outside the main entrance to show u were there.