Providence Canyon - Backcountry Trail (Stewart County, Georgia)

 

When I visited Providence Canyon State Park a few months ago, I was amazed by the color palette of the continually collapsing canyon, but I was a bit disappointed in the short distance of the hike, knowing that that there was a longer option available. When one of the Meetup groups posted this hike again, and specified they would be doing the Backcountry Trail, I decided to return to the park and take care of that unfinished business.

After driving the 2.5 hours south to the park, I arrived at the visitor's center just a few minutes before the scheduled start time and began looking around for any familiar faces. It didn't take long to identify the group, even though the park is extremely crowded on this beautiful Saturday morning.

With a quick round of introductions, we start the trail heading clockwise around the rim of the canyon. Unlike many canyons out west, this one was created by poor farming practices during the last century or two. Uncontrolled erosion ate into the soft soil that was formerly a sea bed and began cutting this network of canyons through the orange and yellow earth that makes up this area. Looking into the canyon from above, it looks something like a miniature Grand Canyon, but on a much smaller scale.

The trail takes us through the area that was a former homestead and the rusted hulks of vehicles they left when they relocated. We then enter the wooded area to the south and west of the main park's main attraction. There area couple of somewhat steep climbs, but just enough to get the heart pumping a bit - nothing to strenuous.

After rounding the long finger of the trail on the western side of the park, we head back towards the eroded depressions that we saw from above earlier. Here the trail has a stead stream of water running over it carry even more soil from the canyons beyond. This is a continual process that will one day carve the canyons even deeper into the landscape. The sandy red soil mixed with clay doesn't hold the water very well and it makes for a bit of a muddy hike. Along the way, we note a couple of interesting trees - one with enormous leaves, which after some research, I'm still not able to identify.

Making our way back into the main area of the park, we explore a couple of the finger canyons, some of which require a small amount of climbing to access. This is where most of the people concentrate, but surprisingly, many are wearing masks and practicing social distancing. It's good to see.

The climb out of the canyon is a little steep and I notice my breathing is a bit more labored while wearing this face mask and ascending the trail, but it's all for a good cause, not to mention, I need the workout. As we say our goodbyes, I check my mileage and find that we've hiked about 8.1 miles - pretty good. This park is very interesting, but now that I've explored the Backcountry Trail in addition to the main canyon area, I don't know that I'll have any reason to return.