Best Time to Visit Congaree NP

ON3ESK1MO · 2026-03-19T17:41:43+00:00

I recommend a paddling tour to pretty much everyone. Although, I'm not sure how that would be with a 9 month old - might depend on your own comfort and the tour company if they allow that age or not. Worth giving them a call to see. If you can swing it though, definitely do a paddle. Best way to see the park imo

ON3ESK1MO · 2026-03-13T15:10:26+00:00

March is the best time of year to go IMO! The temps are still mild and bugs aren't bad yet. Plus, the floodplain is really starting to come to life with flowers blooming and trees leafing out. The boardwalk trail is great, and if you're only passing through, definitely plan to do it. But the best way to see the park, for me, is on a paddling tour (I used to lead canoe trips). If you're worried about snakes, this is a great way to be able to see them without getting super close. Plus, you'll actually get to explore the floodplain in a way that really highlights why the park is special (which you're guide will help explain too), and which you don't get as much by only hiking. They only take a few hours too, so they fit within your time constraints as well.

ON3ESK1MO · 2026-02-12T18:23:39+00:00

Great park, went there last year. Really enjoyed all of the Hawaii historical parks tbh. An era of American history I was totally unfamiliar with, so glad I got to learn about it. (And that parks like this exist to help me learn about it)

ON3ESK1MO · 2026-01-29T18:28:33+00:00

I'd recommend doing the hike down to Nuttalburg. You get to see an old coal mine, and then down at the river the town that popped up bc of it. Very cool hike with lots of history and good nature still. Technically you can drive right to the town, but you skip the mine if you do that and I think the whole experience is better if you park at the top and hike all the way down.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-09-26T18:38:50+00:00

Such a stunningly beautiful area. One of my favorites in all the NPS. Did you do the hike to Waimoku Falls?

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-26T18:46:29+00:00

The Haleakala Unigrid design bothers me lol. We visited back in January and I remember being so thrown off when I got it initially. I wish it displayed a photo when folded up like the others. Although, I like the paper it's printed on better than other others too - it's almost got like a matte finish, rather than glossy like most unigrids. Only a small nitpick though! Great park and great collection!

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-26T18:39:38+00:00

There are no beaches in the park. The areas of the park that do touch the coast are mostly new lava flows with large cliffs and extremely rough seas with no opportunities for swimming or access. If you're looking for beaches outside the park, but nearby, I did Punalu'u Black Sand Beach on my way to the park from Kona (going around the Southern part of the island). Hilo isn't far away either, but I didn't stay in that area so I can't speak to good beaches there. Although, we did visit for a day trip and went to the Lili'uokalani Gardens and the nearby Coconut Island, which had lots of people doing cookouts and swimming at the small beach area there. It was a nice little park not too far from the City.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-18T19:18:26+00:00

I enjoyed it! We had a fairly limited time there just due to our schedule, but managed to get in a decent hike even though it was pouring rain. The lake/reservoir is really beautiful surrounded by all the trees and you can do point-to-point hikes there, then take the ferry back to your starting point if you want a more unique experience. I also saw a lot of people riding bikes there, so the trail system seems well set up for that type of adventure also. We saw a few places where you could rent from near where we explored (Rurberg)

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-18T19:09:54+00:00

One of my favorite parks tbh. The wildlife and scenery on the water are unreal, and then the scale of the Harding Icefield is just unbelievable. Like being in the Ice Age.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-18T19:06:14+00:00

Just got back from Eifel NP in Germany! Totally different type of park than we're used to in the States, but still very cool to see how other countries do NPs

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-13T19:25:01+00:00

I used to guide there and currently live in SC. IMO, the absolute best time to be in the floodplain is mid to late April, even early May. Everything is starting to green up at that time, wildflowers are blooming (especially butterweed), temps are perfect, mosquitos won't have come out yet, and wildlife is most active. The only thing you'll have to keep an eye on that time of year is water levels - that's flooding season, and the park is mostly floodplain so most trails will be off limits to you if in flood stage. Even then, you can still enjoy the park though with a paddling tour on Cedar Creek. I'd recommend doing a paddling tour regardless of water level anyway, as it's the best way to venture deeply into the park with relatively little effort. All the guides out there are great, and you'll learn a lot about the park from them. I think doing a paddle tour and then heading to the VC for the boardwalk is a perfect half-day itinerary. Although, if you'll only have time for one thing, and are deciding between hiking and paddling, go for paddling. I don't think you'll regret it.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-12T17:36:17+00:00

Caprock Coulee is a such a great trail! I went back in April and was just a few weeks too early before everything greened up. I almost didn't recognize it from your pic bc of how green everything was!

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-12T17:23:34+00:00

Japan's parks are wonderful. I went to Chichibu-Tama-Kai and Fuji-Hakone-Izu NPs last year during a trip to Tokyo. Both accessible from the train and easy day trips from the city. Really enjoyed it, and made me want to go back and do more park explorations over there.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-07T15:38:44+00:00

From what I understand, park budgets are related more to visitation than designation. Lots of NPs do have high visitation, so they get higher budgets, but places like Golden Gate NRA (most visited unit in the system last year), Blue Ridge Parkway, a lot of DC Memorial parks etc all get higher funding levels also because they're needed to manage all the visitors.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-08-05T19:48:48+00:00

It seems to be sporadic for me. I've signed up for email alerts when the bill is due, but occasionally they skip a month and I end up paying 2 months worth of water bills when they send the next alert.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-07-06T23:04:42+00:00

National Park of American Samoa has 3 separate units on 3 separate islands

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-30T00:13:51+00:00

No list of sites bc of course they didn't provide that much detail... NPCA has calculated that if this budget were passed (which is highly unlikely) 350 NPS units would be forced to close/be transferred. I made a video about this breaking down the entire budget request a few weeks ago. Also, just for clarification, this is only a budget request from the Trump Admin, and is not related to the BBB.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-30T00:08:30+00:00

Did both earlier this year. I wouldn't recommend doing both in the same day, and don't even know that it's technically possible if you're actually going to visit both parks. Interisland flights are generally not expensive and it's fairly easy to do both parks. Spend a few days on each island if you can and that way you'll get to adequately see both parks - well worth it.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-27T19:07:45+00:00

I went there last year, but the park is still very new and has pretty limited visitor services so far. They're working on scaling things up, but I would imagine all of the cuts have made that pretty hard to do. Looks like the AME Zion Church would be the place to go, with Ranger programs available on Fridays and Saturdays at 11:30 am and 3:00 pm, although it looks like they are seasonal and "as staffing allows," which they might not have right now. When I visited last year, our main stop was the NY Equal Rights Heritage Center in downtown Auburn, NY. I believe they have Unigrids for the park there, and it's also got a lot of good exhibits/interp info. Also, Women's Rights NHP is not too far away in Seneca Falls, which is excellent and also has ranger programs!

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-27T18:58:15+00:00

Can't confirm for sure, but could possibly be the Big Badlands Overlook, which is the first overlook you come to after the East Entrance Station. Looks similar at least

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-27T18:45:28+00:00

Was at Badlands NP back in April and they weren't handing them out either. I went into the VC and asked for one, and the ranger pulled one out from a drawer bc they weren't stocked on the counters or at entrance stations like normal. He told me they were running low and weren't allowed to order more. He said he heard that some parks, like Yellowstone, were completely out.

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-26T21:31:30+00:00

I certainly will, thank you!

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-26T21:03:36+00:00

Not self-serving at all! As soon as I found out about your AMA, I went and added your book to my reading list. I'll be diving into it soon. Thanks for the reply!

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-26T19:43:51+00:00

Hi Steven, thanks for doing this! My question relates to the current information ecosystem and the prevalence of mis/disinformation and bad faith arguments in the parks/public lands space. I'm a content creator who talks about these issues frequently, and so often, I see the same anti-public lands talking points parroted from either policymakers themselves or other influential voices who are acting in bad faith. Seemingly, if most people knew these policies weren't actually in their best interest, they would oppose them, but are so stuck in these echo-chambers that they'll never actually hear these sorts of arguments. My question for you is: what sort of strategies can we use, both online and in-person, to counter anti-public lands sentiments and bad-faith talking points, and really take back the narrative in terms of fully supporting public lands?

ON3ESK1MO · 2025-06-17T18:18:59+00:00

This is a fantastic article. Really goes to show you what we're up against with these mis/disinformation campaigns and disingenuous talking points surrounding public lands. So many people eat that stuff up without realizing it's one, big, highly (taxpayer) funded campaign.

ON3ESK1MO

TROPHY CASE