Providence Canyon - Georgia's "Little Grand Canyon", USA

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
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A man-made natural wonder, Providence Canyon, Georgia, USA. More here.

Approximately 150 miles southwest of Atlanta, in the US state of Georgia, is a network of gorges and massive gullies lovingly called Georgia's “Little Grand Canyon.”

It is considered to be one of Georgia’s “Seven Natural Wonders”, except it isn’t at all natural. These impressive canyons were created not by the action of a river over millions of years but by rainwater runoff from farm fields in less than a century.

Providence Canyon began forming in the early 1800s because of poor farming practices that prevailed across the nation and especially in the south. In those early days of agriculture, land was cheap, unlimited and seemingly expendable giving way to a combination of plantations, small farms, and eventually a sharecropper system that not only degraded the land but also kept farmers in debt and uneducated.

Native forest cover were cleared so the land could be farmed, and no measures were taken to avoid soil erosion leading to massive loss of topsoil. Small gullies began to form and rapidly grew deeper and more extensive, until they were three to five feet deep by the 1850s. These small channels began to further concentrate runoff increasing the rate of erosion. Today, some of the gullies at Providence Canyon are 150 feet deep.


Despite its recent formation, Providence Canyon is a treasure trove for geologists and visitors alike. Erosion has exposed the geologic record of several million years within its walls, and minerals have stained the sediments, creating a wide range of colors.
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That is hard to believe! Palo Duro Canyon looks very pretty too! :cool:
 

There is actually a location in Pennsylvania named "Little Grand Canyon, Pennsylvania." It's a camping and recreational area. Sorry, I do not have any pictures, but I am fairly sure that there are some on the Internet. I have passed through there a few times and it is just beautiful any time of the year.
 
911 said:
There is actually a location in Pennsylvania named "Little Grand Canyon, Pennsylvania." It's a camping and recreational area. Sorry, I do not have any pictures, but I am fairly sure that there are some on the Internet. I have passed through there a few times and it is just beautiful any time of the year.
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I'll post a pic for you 911. It's truly beautiful too. I love PA. I lived in Bucks County 6 years.

SeaBreeze, your Providence Canyon GA photos are spectacular.

Here's Grand Canyon, Pennsylvania...

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