Red Bluff (colloquially known as Mississippi's Little Grand Canyon) is a natural geologic feature, located in Marion County,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, located about 1.5 miles northwest of the community of Morgantown.''Morgantown, Mississippi,'' 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1970

Geologic description

Red Bluff is a geological formation created by the natural erosion of the west bank of the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-all ...

. The bluff is an exposure

red clay Ultisols, commonly known as red clay soils, are one of twelve soil orders in the United States Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy. The word "Ultisol" is derived from "ultimate", because Ultisols were seen as the ultimate product of continu ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

, and other colorful

sediments Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand a ...

''Mississippi'' by Marlo Carter Kirkpatrick (pg. 179)
and rises to an elevation of approximately 371 feet above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The bluff slopes sharply (200 feet) into the Pearl River floodplain. The natural erosion process continues and has forced the movement of nearby

Mississippi Highway 587 Mississippi Highway 587 (MS 587) is a state highway in Mississippi. It runs north-south for approximately , beginning at the junction of U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), just past the community of Foxworth and ending in Monticello at US 84. MS 587 serves ...

at least two times.

Tourism

The view from the bluff encompasses a significant portion of the Pearl River Basin in Marion County, as well as the eastern portion of the nearby city of

Columbia, Mississippi Columbia is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Marion County, Mississippi, which was formed six years before Mississippi was admitted to statehood. Columbia was named for Columbia, South Carolina, from which many of the early settlers had migr ...

. The land where the bluff is located is privately owned, so hiking is prohibited, but the bluff can be viewed from roadside parking areas along Mississippi Highway 587.Marion County Development Partnership (website)
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References

{{coord, 31, 19, 32, N, 89, 56, 45, W, display=title Landmarks in Mississippi Landforms of Marion County, Mississippi Tourist attractions in Marion County, Mississippi Landforms of Mississippi Cliffs of the United States

Geologic description

Tourism

See also

References