- July 19th, 2009, 5:44 pm
#267306
I've been to Congaree, Redwood and Glacier. Redwood was unimpressive, Congaree is a complete waste of time and Glacier is a must-see.
Redwood had one decent hiking trail when I was there and the only thing of any real interest was the giant trees. Obviously, that's why the park is there but there wasn't much else of anything that you might think of when you think of a park. No great views, a tiny camping area and nowhere to go. If you really want to stand on a stump the size of your house, go to Redwood. Then leave.
Congaree, on the other hand, shouldn't even be a park. It's literally nothing more than a big old-growth swamp. If you like canoe rides where you get to be eaten alive by mosquitoes the size of your fist while pretending you're an extra in "Deliverance", you might like it but I don't see the attraction for anyone else. It's hard to get to, you can't hike anywhere and considering the kind of creatures that call the place home, I wouldn't recommend camping there either.
Glacier, however, is unparalleled. I was there in early June and I missed out on some parts of it because many of the park roads still hadn't been completely cleared yet of the snow...from May. Even so, Glacier is huuuuge with two different mountain ranges and a hundred or so lakes making it possible to visit it multiple times without going to the same area. It's a great place to visit and it's actually connected to a Canadian national park on the other side of the border so, if you're going to visit western Canada as well, Glacier Park is the perfect place to cross.
"I invite all the young champions on Liberty Mountain to come up and rub my woolly mustache."