Georgia's Providence Canyon State Park

When our children were small, my husband Paul and I took them on a trip from Montana to Arizona to visit friends. The Grand Canyon was on our route, so we stopped, spent the night in one of the lodges on the South Rim, and snapped a few photos of the canyon's awe inspiring vistas.

Fast forward to 2012: one of my travel tips is to be prepared. Keep a library of good travel books of places you are interested in. One of mine is the excellent, information packed Moon Handbooks: Georgia. Over the years, its pages have become well-read and bookmarked. Within those pages, I first learned about Georgia's Providence Canyon, remarkably similar to the Grand Canyon in aspect, if not in size and scope. Only about two hours from Warm Springs, a visit was definitely in my planned route for my automobile trip to Florida. Southeast of Columbus, it is easily accessible from US 27, one of Georgia's improved, but underused, four lane highways. At Lumpkin, I turned off onto Highway 39C, which is the road to the Florence Marina State Park. After driving about eight miles, half-way between Lumpkin and the Florence Marina, I saw the sign for Providence Canyon State Park.

Just like the state park website says, “Georgia's “Little Grand Canyon” is a testament to the power of man's influence on the land. Massive gullies as deep as 150 feet were caused simply by poor farming practices during the 1800s, yet today they make some of the prettiest photographs within the state. The rare Plumleaf Azalea grows only in this region and blooms during July and August when most azaleas have lost their color. The canyon soil's pink, orange, red and purple hues make a beautiful natural painting at this quiet park.” 

Not as majestic as the Grand Canyon, perhaps, but I found it to be awe inspiring in its own way. 

If you go: the Visitor Center is only open sporadically, but the picnic area with its bathroom facilities is open year round, and I found the best view by walking straight back to the edge of the canyon from the picnic grounds.