Providence Canyon (Stewart County, Georgia)

 

Southwestern Georgia's Providence Canyon State Park is an interesting collision of the poor farming practices of the past and a soil composition that simply cannot endure them. When farmers of the early 19th century plowed their fields, they kicked off a chain of events and as water ran through those rows, it began to erode away the soft ocean sediments and sand until a gaping chasm was formed. This place has been on my list for a while and when I saw one of the local meetup groups plan an outing to the park, it seemed an opportune time to explore this unintentional man-made wonder.

Arriving at the park around 10:00 AM, after a couple hours of driving, I quickly met up with the group and we descended into the canyon, doing our best to maintain social distancing. It's a fairly short trail to get to the bottom of the canyon, but a little steep in places. 

Once at the bottom of the canyon, it's as if we entered a different world. The canyon walls are painted with shades of white, orange, and red. The sandy, silty red floor beneath our feet is alive with shallow waters flowing over and carving in deeper into the soft soils. Rich green flora grows everywhere, reminding visitors of a jungle setting.

As we make our way up different fingers of the main canyon, each is a similar in appearance, but offers some level of uniqueness in terms of color palette. After visiting five of the finger canyons, we make our way back to the main junction and while part of our group heads back to the parking area, four of us continue up the opposite side of the canyon and circle back around. This path allows us to pass through a long abandoned homestead full of the rusted hulks of automobiles and more interesting views looking back down into the canyon from above. I'm wondering if a trip to this canyon in the late fall or winter would be even better. Once the leaves have fallen, visitors would have unobstructed views of the area.

Returning to the parking lot, I wish my fellow-hikers farewell and use facility before driving to my next stop for the day. It's was a pleasant hike and I was able to get in about 3.8 miles while meandering around the canyon.