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This campground is located on the Bluff Trail approximately one mile from the Longleaf Campground. There is no vehicle access to this campground; all visitors who wish to use this site must carry their equipment to the site. This campground has 6 individual campsites that have hold a maximum of 8 individuals and 3 tents. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. There are no restroom facilities at this site, nor any running water at this campground. This is a hike-in campground that is located at the intersection of the Bluff and Firefly Trails, approximately 1 mile from both the Harry Hampton Visitor Center and the Longleaf Campground. It is surrounded by a mixed pine/hardwood upland forest. This campground is located at a higher elevation than the floodplain and is not subject to the flooding events that occur regularly in other parts of the park.
All campers are required to have a reservation to camp in either of the two frontcountry campgrounds (Longleaf Campground and Bluff Campground) or have a valid permit to camp in the backcountry. Reservations for either of the frontcountry campgrounds must be made through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777. Information on frontcountry campground, including fees and links to reservation pages can be found below. When requesting a backcountry camping permit, applications should be be made at least 72 hours in advance. To obtain a permit, please email [email protected].
Short walk to the sites which sit in a wide circle of six, surrounded by forest with a grassy area in the center. It was a great and sure way to get in and see the synchronous fireflies. Being a solo traveler, a good hiking backpack would have been handy as it was a lot to carry for one person. Amazon has me covered for next time; looking forward to the return trip!
Congaree is probably one of the strangest national parks I’ve ever visited. Couple things to mention right off the bat: 1) It’s free to enter and there’s nobody waiting at the entrance gate like typically; 2) There’s probably only a mile or two of roads to drive on and maybe 100 parking spots (so get there early); 3) You don’t need any kind of marker on your car to signify that you’re camping overnight; and 4) if you’re from FL, LA, or GA you’ve probably seen almost everything in this park before in one of your neighborhood swamps. That’s ultimately what I’d say is the biggest letdown about this park for me personally; however, if you’re from the western US or even NE US I’m sure you’d probably be blown away by this park. Probably also worth mentioning that the location of the entrance is very strange...feels like you’re about to pull up to somebody’s house and then you’re just suddenly in the park.
In terms of trails, there’s plenty of great trails to hike on and they do a decent job of marking them but some of the signage is definitely a little confusing so make sure you have a map with you. As for camping, the Bluff campsite is about a 0.7 mile hike out to. I really thought this was a great spot and would definitely come back to camp here again. There’s plenty of space and only 6 or 7 campsites, so never gets too loud. It’s also very close to all the trails so it’s the perfect spot to wake up early and start a day of hiking. It’s in a nice clearing too so you get a great view of the sky at night. So overall I’d say the campground itself is very nice, it’s just a bit of an underwhelming national park and not sure you could really get more than a day or two out of a trip here. Honestly it seems like the park is used more by local residents than outside visitors. Definitely check to make sure it hasn’t flooded by the way before coming as this basically shuts down the entire park.
Is beautiful and we'll kept ,I'm trying to experience lots of different locations in the next year's ,as farmer nice to get away every opportunity,Lal not Nearly as often as hope
Great for parents showing the kiddos to camp. Easy but challenging trails and navigating to the sites. Literally a great start for anyone wanting to get toes wet with nature.
