Congaree National Park is located outside of Columbia and features tranquil boardwalks through old-growth forests.

HOPKINS — Thousands of visitors walk the miles of boardwalk in Congaree National Park each year, but frequent flooding has kept portions of the trails out of commission. A years-long project to change that is close to wrapping up at the park just a short drive from Columbia .

Congaree's boardwalks have been a staple of the park’s trail system since the first portions opened in the 1980s, forming a major component of the loop of trail systems.

As built, portions of the boardwalk system are low to the ground and vulnerable to flood events and undermining, which impact the park about 10 times a year.

Work is ongoing to replace the existing boardwalk with higher profile, sturdier decking that won’t need to close so often when the waters rise, park spokesperson Jon Manchester said.

“It’ll open up more boardwalk for periods of high water,” Manchester said. “And it’s also replacing sections that have just outlived their service life.”

The final product will see three-quarters of the boardwalk system elevated above the average high-water mark during flood events. Currently about half of the boardwalks are low and flood-prone, Manchester said.

An overlook at the eastern end of Weston Lake “will provide visitors a different vantage point of this oxbow lake and wildlife like turtles, alligators, and wading birds that live there,” a page on the park’s website listing updates on the project reads.

That overlook had previously existed in years' past at the park, but was removed at some point, Manchester said.

Sections of the boardwalk on the eastern portion of the loop have been closed since early May for replacement, according to the park’s website. The closures have broken the loop, leaving Weston Lake Trail as an out-and-back path.

Visitors can still complete a walking loop in the trail system by using the Sims Trail to cut between the open sections of boardwalk, according to the park’s website.

The work on the closed sections of boardwalk began at the beginning of this year, but the overall project has been in progress for around a decade, Manchester said.

Work was paused for the park’s annual synchronized firefly event from May 14 through 21, he said.

The overall cost of the project is somewhere in the “millions,” Manchester said — though a final cost was not provided. The funding is not in danger of being lost due to proposed federal funding cuts to the national parks system, he said.

One more section of boardwalk will be left to replace after the stretch currently under construction is completed, he said. The project is scheduled to be completed in Summer 2026.

Caleb Bozard covers business, growth and development for the Post & Courier Columbia. He has previously written for The State and the Times and Democrat. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2023.