One of the reasons I stopped at Florence Marina State Park is because Providence Canyon Conservation Park is just 7-8 miles east on CR 39C. I know there's a 3 mile hiking there. Since I'm heading into the mountains shortly and expect to be doing a lot of hiking, I thought it a good idea to start getting the legs used to steep climbing and the body used to a day pack again, and do it without killing myself on a long hike.
Sunday is usually a bad day for paddling with all the fishing boats out. I'd also seen half a dozen jet skis lined up ready to go screeching out onto the water. Today was overcast and cooler than it had been for a while so that would help out on the too.
I didn't know anything at all about the park as I drove to it. I figured since it was Providence Canyon State Park there might be a little canyon or something there. I was mostly after the .
Pulling into the park, I stopped at the collection box to pay my $2. Directly behind the collection box was an overlook with a pay telescope so I walked over. Wow! Limestone walls topped by red clay rose 75-100 feet off the canyon floor. Jagged crags, ridges and pinnacles also came up off the floor in varying shades of white, brown and red.
I saw the sign off to the left. Heading down the I was greeted by a sign that said the White was 3 miles long and would take 1.5 hours. The Red was 7 miles, would take 4 hours and required a permit. Both s claimed rough terrain. Another sign proclaimed neither was recommended for people with heart problems or were in poor physical condition. Geeze! What what was I letting myself in for on my first hike in a long time?
Lots of holly rimmed the with small, regular oak trees. I dunno what the other trees were although some may have been gum trees.
The itself wound down towards the canyon floor. The packed, red dirt was hard and wide enough for a good size ATV to move about with no problem. A fence on one side meant you'd have to be blind and disoriented to get lost.
The red dirt soon gave way to white sand. A number of abandoned cars lay along side of the . These were there before the state park was created. They claim the cars have been there long enough for them to develop their own ecosystems with birds and animals nesting in them. Besides the expense and damage to the park to haul them out would not be worth it.
The passed across a mostly dried up stream with a red bottom and then began an ascent. A little farther on the went back down and crossed over the stream again. There wasn't much in the way of a bridge or walkway so I guess if you come when the water's running you have to take your shoes off and wade across. There was nothing to be seen of the canyons.
I got to the top much sooner than I expected, right at the Interpretive Center. That part of the only took me about 40 minutes and wasn't too difficult, even for an old guy. The rest of the took me almost an hour.
A fence follows the rim of the canyon from the Interpretive Center, past large picnic areas, back to where I had parked the car. The original view I had from the overlook had shown only a small portion of what the park had to offer.
As I followed the fence, one great view after another presented itself. They were the types of views you couldn't just watch as you walked by. You had to stop and ooo and ahh to fully appreciate them. I dunno how these canyons were formed. There's no river running through them so it must have been from wind and rain erosion. This apparently is still going on today at a rapid rate. You can see where the fences have been moved back from previous locations as the canyon rim moves towards them.
Unless you just came from the Grand Canyon or someplace similar, you'll shoot a roll of film easy. You won't see these kinds of views in many places on the east coast.