Congaree National Park preserves the largest tract of
old growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the
United States. Located in
South Carolina, the
national park received that designation in 2003 as the culmination of a grassroots campaign which had started in 1969. The lush trees growing in this floodplain forest are some of the tallest in the Eastern U.S., forming one of the highest temperate deciduous forest canopies remaining in the world. The
Congaree River flows through the park. About 57 percent of the park is designated
wilderness area.