Review of Providence Canyon State Park in Lumpkin, Georgia: One of the most fascinating places in Georgia!
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| Providence Canyon State Park, Lumpkin, GA |
Prior to my wife and myself’s road trip in the winter of 2023-2024 that would take us to various attractions within the state of Georgia, we hadn’t had much experience with the state. Sure, we stopped by the charming city of Savannah for the afternoon, but that wasn’t enough to properly explore the city, nor the state for that matter.
We really made an effort to finally explore the state and try to see at least several attractions within the state on this road trip as we finally had plenty of time on our hands. Being retired early has its many privileges and having spare time, is one of the best things…
After having visited the excellent Driftwood Beach/Jekyll Island, Fort Frederica National Monument, as well as revisiting Savannah, we were ready for more!
Our next exploration turned out to be Providence Canyon State Park in Lumpkin, in the quiet central western part of the state of Georgia. I came upon this state park after researching the state operated tourism website (exploregeorgia.org).
On the website, Providence Canyon State Park was listed as one of the state’s must visit places for its unique landscape. The park is listed as one of “Georgia’s Seven Natural Wonders”, and it is also known as Georgia’s “Little Grand Canyon” since the 1930’s.
All these accolades and the impressive photos of the canyons themselves were enough for me to pick it as one of our must visit destinations in all of Georgia. When I planned our visit to the park few weeks prior to us actually getting there, I had a little dilemma.
I knew I wanted to utilize Hilton Hotels to maximize earning points for free nights down the road, but I couldn’t find any that worked near the state park. After going back and forth looking for a suitable hotel, I finally decided on Homewood Suites in Columbus Georgia, located about an hour drive south to the park. Even though the hotel wasn’t exactly close, it worked out.
I got the Hilton points, and it was still better than staying at questionable hotel/motel that may have been closer to the park, but one which we may have hated. Homewood Suites to us was a known quantity, as we stayed at one in Albuquerque New Mexico two years ago.
We loved their spacious rooms, free breakfasts, and the Wednesday evening reception with free drinks and light snacks. What’s not to like with any of these???
After leaving the excellent Beau Rivage Hotel on the morning of January 12th, a Friday, we headed northeast, taking I-10, I-65, then I-85. Along the midway point of the trip, we made a quick lunch stop in Montgomery Alabama to fill up our stomachs and for a bathroom break.
During this winter road trip, our usual go-to meal was either Chick Fil A or Panera Bread. Why you ask? I like getting freebies and accruing points which I can use to get free meals using their apps. It’s a win win situation. I get to eat delicious foods while getting free foods from time to time.
For this particular day, we stopped at a Chick Fil A within the suburbs of the city and ordered a chicken salad, a spicy chicken sandwich, and an order of waffle fries. After enjoying our meal, we headed east towards Columbus.
We arrived at our hotel within the next 90 minutes or so. As expected, the hotel was perfect. We checked in, thankful for the enthusiastic and funny front desk staff member who offered us two bottles of water, who commented that that was least she can do since we had already checked in via the Hilton app.
We went to our spacious king studio room, took a much needed warm shower, then drank some warm decaf coffee, while relaxing to the sound of soothing jazz music playing on our tablet. It was even raining a bit by the time we were relaxing on the big and comfortable sofa. Ah, just about right…
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| View from our window |
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| Spacious king studio room |
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| Hotel lobby |
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| Full kitchen |
We got a good night’s rest, had a hearty free breakfast before setting off for Providence Canyon State Park. The drive would take us south via I-185 then on to US 27/US 280. At a distance of just over 50 miles, we arrived in about an hour or so, cutting through pristine forests with rolling hills.
When we arrived at the park, we paid a very reasonable admission fee of $5, which is practically free this day and age. We followed other travelers eager to start their journey at the park, found a parking spot, then headed down towards the canyon.
We knew the hike wouldn’t be easy as we had to descend towards the bottom of the canyon then ascend back up later. Nothing we’re not used to, as we’ve hiked the much tougher Bryce Canyon just two years prior.
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| Starting our hike down! |
We got on the popular Canyon Loop Trail at the visitor center, a 2 1/2 mile loop trail, then descended down. Although we had a map of the park, what wasn’t clear to us was which way to go for each numbered canyons (there are a total of 9 different canyons to explore).
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| At the top of the Canyon Loop Trail |
By the time we made it to the bottom of the canyon, the trail split into two to three different directions. We went straight until we realized we weren’t seeing any signs for canyons. We had gone way too far along the Canyon Loop Trail!
We backtracked until we saw bunch of people walking along the muddy creek bed. It was then that we saw the smallish sign for different canyons. Yes!
We walked along the creek bed, thanking our hiking boots while feeling sorry for visitors with sneakers who were getting their white sneakers all muddy and dirty. We continued for few minutes then finally saw first of the 9 canyons. It was beautiful…
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| Muddy creek bed, bring hiking boots! |
It reminded us of any number of places on the west coast, namely Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and even a little bit of Zion. Just awesome to see colorful canyons on the east coast…
As we continued on our exploration of the canyons, we started to notice more and more people were coming down the trail. We moved along at a brisk pace trying to see the rest of the canyons before the rush!
We made our way back to the Canyon Loop Trail, back down the same creek bed we had come from, then moved down the trail in a southerly direction to finish our exploration of the other canyons.
Scenery was awesome, amazing, and seemingly not what you’d expect on the east coast. We felt right at home inside these canyons…
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| Hiking along the bottom of the canyon! |
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| Beautiful red colored rock |
We took our time looking at different canyons, just enjoying our time together. The air was fresh, not bad for a January morning in the hills of Georgia.
We came upon a narrow slot canyon and had to check out the inside. Nice views, reminiscent of the famous Antelope Canyon in Arizona.
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| Entrance to the narrow canyon |
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| Kind of like Zion… |
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| Looking up from inside the narrow slot canyon |
The narrow slot canyon was one of our favorite canyons at the park. It just reminded us so much of the west coast with their impressive colors. We’re always amazed at how powerful water is, able to cut through rocks to form these narrow canyons.
Well, as cool as these may be, I sure don’t want to be caught inside one during a flash flood! That, sounds scary!
We wrapped up our trip by finishing our exploration of all the numbered canyons at the park. The hike back up was not fun, but it was much easier than climbing back up Bryce Canyon. There’s always a bright side to everything.
In conclusion:
I want to thank the website “exploregeorgia.org’ for their recommendation on this fantastic park. This was by far one of the most beautiful and fascinating places we’ve visited not just in the state of Georgia, but also on the east coast.
With colorful canyons, incredible landscapes, and nice trails, Providence Canyon State Park is something that is not to be missed when planning a visit to the state of Georgia. We really enjoyed our trip there.
Thank you for reading and keep up with us on our travels through the American South! Happy trails!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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