Providence Canyon - Only the Best Parts!

Providence Canyon State Park was established in 1971 to preserve the unique scenic beauty of "Georgia's Little Grand Canyon." Due to poor farming practices by early settlers, the soft soil began washing away in the early 1800s when trees were cleared to plant crops. By 1850, ditches three- to five-feet-deep had been cut into the land. Today some of them are as deep as 150 feet and have interesting colors of pink, orange, red, and purple.  A surprising feature of the park is the perpetually wet canyon floor. The exposed water table creates a pretty pattern in the sand, called a "braided stream."  (Full disclosure: The foregoing was appropriated from Richard A. Zalick for educational purposes.  Thanks, Richard :)  Expect to step thru small puddles as we explore the canyons.

We will begin our hike on the first 2 miles of the Backcountry Trail Loop.  This portion is pretty flat as it follows the stream out of the canyon.   We'll turn around at South Glory Hole (no kidding!) and head back to the canyon along the same trail.  We'll cover this first 4 miles of the hike at a moderate pace (~2.5 mph).  The rest of the day will be more leisurely.

From here we'll continue into the canyon and find a spot to have lunch.  After lunch we'll explore all of the 9 fingers of this amazing canyon.  Around 4 pm we'll head out of the canyon and continue our hike on the Canyon Loop Trail.  This part of the hike will afford the best views of the canyons and lead us back to our cars by around 6 pm.  Sunset is around 6 pm this day, so there should be some amazing Kodak moments.

We'll finish our trip with a 45-minute drive back to Columbus for a 7:00 pm dinner at a place TBD.  Send me an email if you know a good restaurant in Columbus.


* Since this is a scenic hike, it will be rescheduled in case of unsuitable weather.

Map - http://www.gastateparks.org/content/Georgia/parks/trail_maps/ProvidenceCanyon_map.pdf

A good time!