Providence Canyon State Park: Canyon Trail (Blog Hike #206)

Trail: Canyon Trail

Hike Location: Providence Canyon State Park

Geographic Location: west of Lumpkin, GA (32.06869, -84.91444)

Length: 2.8 miles

Difficulty: 5/10 (Moderate)

Dates Hiked: October 2006, January 2016, February 2023

Overview: A unique hike featuring spectacular views into and out of Providence Canyon.

Park Information: https://gastateparks.org/ProvidenceCanyon
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=720638
Photo Highlight:

Hike Video:

Directions to the trailhead: From Lumpkin, take SR 39C west 6 miles to the entrance of Providence Canyon State Park.  Turn left to enter the park.  Follow the paved main park road past some picnic areas to the main parking lot at the Interpretive Center.  Park in this lot.

The hike: At first glance, the spectacular scenery found in Providence Canyon appears to have been cut and pasted to this point in southwest Georgia from somewhere far away.  Indeed, the red, orange, and white bands and spires that stick 100 feet in the air remind you of Bryce Canyon or another famous canyon in other parts of the world.  Were it not for the surrounding trees, both in and around the canyon, you could be in the western United States.

            Appearances, however, are more or less where the similarities between Providence Canyon and most other canyons end.  Whereas the rocks at Bryce Canyon have been available for public viewing for many millennia, the rocks at Providence Canyon have been above ground for only a couple hundred years.  Moreover, while Bryce Canyon was created by the natural forces of wind and water, Providence Canyon is man-made, or at least man-enhanced. 

The story begins in the early 1800’s when this land was clear-cut to make room for farms and to provide timber.  Practices such as these are well-known for enhancing erosion, and over the next 50 years gullies three to five feet deep had formed.  Once this top layer of rock had been penetrated, erosion accelerated.  Another 160 years of erosion creates the formations you see in Providence Canyon today.

            The state park now protects 1003 acres of land in and around the canyon.  Most of this land has been reforested, putting a halt to the rapid erosion.  The few acres that remain open consist of the upper reaches of the canyon, allowing fantastic overlooks from the rim.  Several picnic shelters take advantage of these views, and a visitor center features a film that tells the whole story of Providence Canyon.

            The park also features a pair of medium distance hiking trails.  The 7-mile backpacking trail gives a nice tour of the backcountry around the mouth of the canyon and features several primitive campsites for those who enjoy backpacking without the difficulty of mountain hiking.  Visitors who want the most reward for the effort should hike the 2.8 mile Canyon Trail described here.  This trail gives all of the excellent views both into and out of the canyon without the length of the Backpack Trail.

Trailhead behind Visitor Center

            Begin at the rear of the Visitor Center where a wooden rail protects the rim of the canyon.  Since this trail is a loop, you could go either direction.  This description will turn left to first follow along the rim, leaving the canyon for the end.  The trail proceeds through an open grassy field with the rail on the right and the park entrance road on the left.  At first the canyon is obscured by shrubs growing beyond the rail, but soon the shrubs clear and your first overlook of the canyon opens up.

            Probably the most striking feature seen from this overlook is the orange horizontal bands that cover the walls of the canyon.  These bands represent different layers of soil and rock; the white bands represent harder sandstone, orange bands clay rich in iron oxide, and darker red bands soil rich in other nutrients.  This particular overlook gives a nice view of canyon #1, the first of nine canyons in this park.

View down Providence Canyon from overlook

            Continue following the wooden rail on the right as you pass several more overlooks and several picnic areas.  The first few overlooks are somewhat unimpressive and look similar to the one described above.  Stick with the trail, and soon you will arrive at the overlooks used on the park brochures, the views that give this canyon the fame it deserves.  In the larger canyons (#4, 5, and 7), the softer orange bands have eroded leaving only the hard white sandstone caps.  Many of these caps have formed interesting spires and knife-edge cliffs.

Canyon #4 from overlook

            1 mile into the hike, the trail passes the last picnic shelter and arrives at the end of the wooden rail.  Here a sign indicates that both the Canyon and Backpack Trails enter the forest on a common single-track dirt trail.  Now the developed picnic areas and overlooks are left behind for the reforested backcountry portion of the canyon rim.  At 1.25 miles, the trail enters an area characterized by some old, rusty cars.  These artifacts were deposited here before the park was created, and the cost and damage to the forest now required to remove them do not justify the aesthetic benefits to hikers.

            At 1.5 miles, the red-blazed Backpack Trail exits to the left while our trail, the white-blazed Canyon Trail, curves right and begins descending into the canyon.  This descent takes place in several stages, and some strategically placed benches offer rest between these stages.  When I hiked this trail, an armadillo was burrowing into the ground beside the trail, making for some interesting observations and photographs.

            At 2.25 miles, the trail makes a final steep descent to arrive at the first of two creekbeds.  There is no bridge, but crossing the creek is easy except during times of exceptionally high water levels.  This creek drains canyons six through nine.  While you could turn right and explore these canyons, the other creek drains the more scenic canyons one through five and makes for a more interesting excursion.

Trail in creekbed coming out of canyon

            The trail crosses a steep but low ridge to arrive at the second creek.  Turn right and walk up the streambed to explore the canyon.  While walking in a creek seems like a difficult proposition, in fact the firmly packed sand in the creek bed combined with the lack of water at normal water tables makes for fairly easy walking.  Soon you enter the bizarre world of the upper reaches of Providence Canyon.  Surrounding you are treeless, white sandstone canyon formations, while beneath you is the darker, damp, packed sand that has washed down from the slopes.  At the head of the largest canyon, you can look up and see one of the wooden overlooks you stood upon about an hour ago.

Head of Canyon #4, looking up

            Retrace your steps to the Canyon Trail, and turn right to continue around the loop.  The Backpack Trail enters from the left as you begin a rather steep ascent involving a single switchback out of the canyon.  Over the next 0.25 mile, the trail gains 130 feet in elevation to return to the Visitor Center, close the loop, and complete the hike.