A short, easy walk (well under a mile) from the parking area near the Harry Hampton Visitor Center, Longleaf is Congaree’s primary designated campground and the most accessible way to spend a night in the park’s old-growth forest. Sites are primitive — no potable water, pit toilets only — but the walk-in distance is genuinely minor compared to true backcountry camping, making this an approachable first camping trip for families used to car camping. Reservations are required and the mosquito population here can be intense for much of the year, so come prepared with real repellent, especially in summer. Falling asleep beneath some of the tallest hardwood trees in eastern North America, with the park’s synchronous firefly display possible in late spring, makes this one of the more unusual and memorable camping experiences in the entire National Park System.