August 2 - “Little Grand Canyon of Georgia.”

I’m a sucker for red and green together outdoors – red brick with green ivy, red geraniums with green leaves, and especially red dirt or clay with green foliage. I have come to expect this in Colorado or Utah but never thought I would find such colors together in the state of Georgia. Today I visited Providence Canyon State Park in Southwest Georgia site of the “Little Grand Canyon of Georgia.”

After a wonderful visit with my host in the city of “Howie-in-the-Hills Florida, I headed north this morning back towards Tennessee to visit some friends who were gone earlier in the week. Instead of taking the most direct route through Georgia I decided to take back roads to the town of Lumpkin and the entryway to Providence Canyon State Park. It was nice to get off the toll road and spend some time on route 27 with its gently sloping curves and plenty of hills.

The state park houses Providence Canyon, with massive gullies as wide as 150 feet. These gullies were apparently formed by poor farming practices in the 1800s. Granted, the size and scope do not in any way compare to THE Grand Canyon in Arizona. But the colors were beautiful nonetheless. The rich orange and red soil also has hints of pink and purple and is accentuated by a variety of green trees and shrubs as well as large swatches of white rock. This “Little Grand Canyon” is considered to be one of the 7 natural wonders of Georgia.

The last several days have been fairly hot and muggy, making the riding rather challenging. In fact, while I was at the park taking pictures today, an alert came up on my phone screen, informing me that the phone needed to cool down before I could continue using the selfie stick. Wow. I guess even the phone needs a break. Fortunately as I continued north the weather cooled and the riding was very comfortable.