Campground · Congaree National Park
Walk-in tent sites put you close to Congaree’s trails.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Congaree Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Congaree National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this place
Longleaf and Bluff Campgrounds“You're nearing Longleaf Campground, the practical tent-camping option if you want a short walk with your gear. Reserve ahead; vehicles stay in the parking lot, and the farthest sites are about a hundred yards away.”
Plays as you drive up to Longleaf Campground in the Parkwolf Congaree Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Longleaf Campground is a frontcountry tent campground on Congaree’s entrance road, tucked into mixed pine and hardwood forest. If you want to sleep inside the park without backpacking to a backcountry site, it’s the practical option. Reserve a site before arriving: vehicles stay in the gravel lot, and the farthest campsites are about 100 yards away on foot.
The sites sit among trees and get shade for much of the day. A central open field gives you a place to look for birds, butterflies and the occasional southern fox squirrel. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring, and fires are allowed only in those rings.
Two vault toilets are near the parking area, but there’s no running water or shower here. Drinking water is available at the Harry Hampton Visitor Center, about half a mile away. Site 1 is designated for campers with accessibility needs; the dirt paths can have trip hazards, and roots may make other sites difficult to reach in a standard wheelchair.
Wildlife
146 sightingsAlligatorMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
242 sightingsWild BoarMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
291 sightingsBarred OwlMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
248 sightingsCottonmouthMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
13 sightingsWood StorkMost seen around 8 AMSighting map
61 sightingsGreat Blue HeronMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Congaree. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyLongleaf Trail0.6 mi · 20 min · 0.1 mi awayA short forest link from Longleaf Campground to the Boardwalk.
EasyBoardwalk Trail2.6 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.5 mi awayLevel boardwalk, old-growth trees, and a Weston Lake overlook.
ModerateWeston Lake Trail4.5 mi · 2.5 hr · 0.5 mi awayA 4.5-mile loop through old growth to Weston Lake.
EasyFirefly Trail1.8 mi · 1 hr · 0.5 mi awayAn easy woodland walk to Congaree's spring firefly display.
ChallengingOakridge Trail7.1 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.5 mi awayOld-growth oaks and flooded guts make this a navigation-first hike.
EasySims Trail3.2 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.5 mi awayA level old road to a creek bridge and park history.
ChallengingKingsnake Trail7.4 mi · 4 hr · 2.5 mi awayA flat, long floodplain walk with sloughs, bridges, and tricky wayfinding.
Visitor center · 0.5 mi awayHarry Hampton Visitor CenterMaps, exhibits, and a film make this a smart first stop.
Picnic area · 0.5 mi awayCongaree Picnic ShelterA group picnic pavilion with grills near the Boardwalk Trail.
Sight · 0.5 mi awayCongaree National Park SignThe entrance marker comes a mile before the visitor center.
Campground · 0.7 mi awayBluff CampgroundA six-site hike-in camp tucked among Congaree’s upland trees.
Sight · 0.8 mi awayMoonshine Still (Boardwalk Stop 15)A distant glimpse of an iron still from Prohibition.
Sight · 1 mi awayRichland County PineA former state champion with a 1750s backstory.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayWeston Lake OverlookLook for turtles beside this 2,000-year-old oxbow lake.
Sight · 1.4 mi awayWise LakeA former river channel with forested banks and a canoe approach.Parkwolf’s Congaree ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
