Over Memorial Day Weekend my girlfriend Hannah and I took a day trip to Providence Canyon, in Southwest Georgia. It was about a two an a half hour drive from Atlanta, but it was totally worth it! The canyon was beautiful; Hannah had described it to me as the "Grand Canyon of Georgia", and her description totally fit! The site is also considered one of the "seven natural wonders of Georgia", of which I've visited four. Looking back at the pictures, it's easy to see why.
The 150 foot gullies are actually the result of poor farming practices in the 19th century, which resulted in massive erosion. The resulting exposed geology--Georgia red clay, white kaolin clay, and flecks of mica--descends into the canyon in a beautiful gradient pattern. Unfortunately, we decided to do part of the longer hike (around four and a half miles total--the trail itself is over seven miles long), which was much less scenic than the other, shorter, route. We still had a ton of fun though, and we got to see an armadillo up close! They're actually an invasive species in the canyon, but they're just so gosh darn cute. After our hike we still got to see some great views of the canyon from the overlooks along the canyon's rim. Overall, it was a wonderful day. It was great to get outside, and on the drive home Hannah and I treated ourselves to breakfast-for-dinner at IHOP. I can't think of a better way to end the trip!
