How Crowded Is Congaree National Park in May?

May runs about 1.5× Congaree National Park's average month, which makes it a busy month here — roughly 13% of the park's yearly visitors come in May.

In a typical May the park sees about 24,000 recreation visits, based on National Park Service monthly counts from 1985 to 2025.

It is the single busiest month of the year at Congaree; January, the quietest, runs only about 0.6× the average — a 2-to-1 swing between high and low season.

On our Best Time to Visit score May rates 20/100 ("Poor"), versus the top-rated January at 80/100 — the best overall balance of crowds and daylight.

Because June, July and August together draw about 22% of annual visitors, choosing May instead steps outside that summer crush — the single biggest lever on how crowded the park feels.

You'll have about 13.8 hours of daylight in May to explore — between the 9.8-hour midwinter low and the 14.2-hour summer high.

Park-wide, 2025 drew 287,833 recreation visits, up 18.9% from 242,049 in 2024.

Across the past decade overall visitation has risen about 72.3%, so a May visit is likely to feel busier than it did a few years ago.