Providence Canyon

The canyon is not a natural landform. In the early 1800s farmers cleared this ground and ploughed it without contouring or cover, and the soft coastal-plain sediments beneath eroded fast - by the 1850s gullies were metres deep, and they have since cut to about fifty in places, exposing bands of clay and sand in orange, pink, white and lavender. It is sometimes called Georgia's Little Grand Canyon, which is generous, but the colour is real and the scale is startling for the region. Rusting cars sit at the bottom of one gully, dumped before it was a park. It also holds the plumleaf azalea, which grows wild almost nowhere else and flowers in July.

What you'll find

• Gullies up to fifty metres deep - cut by farming, not by a river.
• Banded orange, white and lavender sediment - the exposed soil layers.
• Abandoned cars at the bottom - dumped before protection.
• Plumleaf azalea - which grows wild almost nowhere else.

When to go

October to April; the azalea flowers in July. Half a day.

Things to know

The canyon floor is soft mud and standing water - expect wet feet. Summer heat and humidity are heavy. It is a long drive from any city. Erosion continues and trails close as gullies advance.

Nearby

Lumpkin is east; Columbus is north.

Key facts