Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve
Contact Information
Brett M. Moule
SC Department of Natural Resources
1000 Assembly Street
Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 734-3886 (Columbia)
Hours of Operation
The area is open during daylight hours year-round.
Contributions to the Endangered Wildlife Fund on the South Carolina Income Tax Form help to make the identification and management of these preserves possible.
Photographs
Description
The Congaree Bluffs Heritage Preserve comprises 201 acres and contains steep,
undisturbed bluffs bordering the Congaree River. It harbors significant
stands of American beech, oak-hickory and bottomland hardwood forest.
No comparable sites exist in the coastal plain of South Carolina.
There are several other sites nearby on private lands, but these areas,
along with the preserve, are unique. Similar systems in and around the Florida
Panhandle have been documented to have the greatest number of trees per unit area within
the temperate forest of the eastern United States. More than 100 species of trees,
shrubs and woody vines exist in the preserve from the ridge base to the crest of the bluffs.
Woody plants may number 200 species.