I'm not sure why the GPS routed us that way? The Georgia side of the Chattahoochee River has perfectly good roads to travel on between the two campgrounds, but I've second guessed the GPS before and put ourselves on some pretty lousy roadways.
We don't have a boat and neither one of us likes to fish, which are the main draws here at this Georgia State Park.
The main draw for us is not what's in "this" state park, but what lies 8-miles east of the front gate in "another" state park. That's where you'll find one of the most photographed locations in all of Georgia.
What started out as poor farming practices back in the early 1800s has now turn into Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon”.
After 200+ years of erosion, from what was once nothing more than a horse drawn plowed field, has now turned into massive gullies as deep as 150 feet. The soil in the "canyon walls" are made up of pink, orange, red and purple hues and make a beautiful location for outdoor nature photography.
The canyon can either be observed from above along a trail with several lookout locations, or you can hike down into the canyons and even spend the night backpacking, if you first aquire a permit.
We arrived at the park a little after 10:30AM. We got a late start because I had to be in front of my laptop at 10:00AM to book a campsite for next summer. I was successful in booking a 7-night (max allowed) visit to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon for opening day (May 15th).
I wasn't quick enough to get my 1st or 2nd choice sites, but 3rd choice is apparently the charm for me. I'll try again in 5-days when my 1st choice becomes available again. Wish me luck and quicker mouse clicking!
Upon arriving at the Visitor Center of Providence Canyon State Park we realized we'd be sharing the park with six 40' busloads of middle school aged children. There must have been 200 of them and every single one of them was excited to be here, or maybe they were just excited to be on a field trip today and outside of the classroom.
while the black trails are the individual canyon floor trails.
Behind the Visitor Center is where the 2½-mile White Blaze Canyon Loop Trail begins. The first ¼-mile of the trail decends 150' down to the canyon floor. At this point you'll reach an intersection where you have a decision to make, there are three choices.
OPTION 1.) Go straight where you immediately go back up and out of the canyon to finish the other 2¼-miles of the White Blaze Canyon Loop Trail which circles around on the rim of the nine canyons. There are overlooks where you'll get views of the canyons below before you return to the Visitor Center.
OPTION 2.) Turn left and you'll be able to take a few short trails to visit Canyons #1-#3. Also, there is a longer side trail that you take to visit Canyons #4 & #5.
OPTION 3.) Turn right and you'll be heading towards the 6 backpack campsites that are located on a 7-mile loop trail (red).
All the canyon trails are dead ends, so no matter which ones you choose to go see you'll end up back at this intersection at which point you can return the ¼-mile back up the 150' to the Visitor Center or finish the 2¼-miles of trail up on the rim.
The school children were everywhere, split up into packs of 20 or so. To say they were loud would be an understatement, as I said they were all very excited to be here.
We hiked down to the canyon floor and then explored the trail all the way to the end of Canyon #2. That was enough for us and we made our way back up to the parking lot and bid Providence Canyon farewell.
If you were born in Georgia and never had the opportunity to travel I could see how this could be considered the "Little Grand Canyon”.
Coming from the perspective of someone who visited the "Big Grand Canyon” earlier this year and just this morning made reservations to see it again, from the other side, I'm sorry but this didn't live up to expectations of being a "Grand Canyon" of any size.
PROVIDENCE CANYON STATE PARK
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Providence Canyon as seen from the upper walkway behind the Visitor Center.
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Zoomed in to see a little more detail.
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On the canyon floor there is near constant water flowing.
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TIP: Don't wear your good shoes, they are going to get muddy.
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With the dense tree cover it was hard to get a glimpse of the canyon walls.
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Here there was an opening in the trees.
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Some locations in the canyons are 350' wide.|
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