05/03/2026
Spent the day paddling through Congaree National Park and honestly… this one lived up to the hype 🚣♂️
We booked a guided kayak tour with Carolina Outdoor Adventures and they absolutely crushed it. About a 3-hour trip with a small group (maybe a dozen of us), and our guide Billy—along with his crew—made the whole experience super fun and incredibly informative. You could tell right away he genuinely loves teaching people about Cedar Creek.
Paddling the blackwater through that old-growth floodplain forest was unreal… massive bald cypress, water tupelo, and towering loblolly pines everywhere you look. It honestly feels like you’re floating through another world. Cedar Creek winds right through the heart of the park’s wilderness, and it’s one of the best ways to experience it up close. Wildlife sightings didn’t disappoint either—some fisher spiders, multiple snakes, a couple owls, turtles… probably would’ve missed half of it without the guides pointing them out.
Bonus: we hit it early enough in the season that the bugs hadn’t shown up yet. Weather was bit overcast and perfect for paddling.
If kayaking isn’t on your list of things to do while visiting Congaree… it should be.
And if you go, highly recommend going with Carolina Outdoor Adventures—they made the whole experience that much better.
