Mother Nature truly amazes me sometimes. The other day I stumbled across a picture of a mountain, one side of this mountain had a rock-face that had been delicately sculpted by the wind and rain over millions of years to form what could be described as the perfect art form.
My curiosity was sparked so off I went in search of more of these natural rock masterpieces. Low and behold after hours of searching I discovered a plethora of these majestic forms.
I decided to put this post together to share my discoveries and piece together what is hopefully the most comprehensive list of incredible rock formations out there.
As with anything of this scale there is no such thing as a complete list. I purposely stopped at 101 simply because the images would take too long to load if I added any more (plus it sounded like a cool number)……. I still have a lot more on my list though.
Enjoy!!
El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith extends about 3,000 feet (900 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is one of the world’s favorite challenges for rock climbers and BASE jumpers.
Bryce Canyon is not a canyon but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters in southwestern Utah in the United States. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks.
Wave Rock is a natural rock formation that is shaped like a tall breaking ocean wave. It forms the north side of a solitary hill, which is known as “Hyden Rock.” This hill, which is a granite inselberg, lies about 3 km (2 mi) east of the small town of Hyden and 296 km (184 mi) east-southeast of Perth, Western Australia.
The Devils Marble’s are located south of Tennant Creek area of Northern Territory in Australia. Karlu Karlu as they were originally known are of great cultural and spiritual significance to local Aboriginal people and is one of the oldest religious sites in the world.
Moon Hill is a hill with a natural arch through it just outside Yangshuo in southern China’s Guangxi autonomous region. It is so named for a wide, semicircular hole through the hill, all that remains of what was once a limestone cave formed in the phreatic zone. Like most formations in the region, it is karst.
Arches National Park is a U.S. National Park in eastern Utah. The park is located on the Colorado River just north of Moab. It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous icate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations.
The Belogradchik Rocks are a group of strange shaped sandstone and conglomerate rock formations located on the western slopes of the Balkan Mountains near the town of Belogradchik in northwest Bulgaria. The Belogradchik Rocks have been declared a Natural Landmark by the Bulgarian government and are a major tourist attraction in the region.
The Three Sisters are a rock formation in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. They are close to the town of Katoomba and are one of the Blue Mountains’ best-known sites, towering above the Jamison Valley. Their names are Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo.
The Wave is a sandstone rock formation located on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes near the Arizona-Utah border in the United States of America. It is famous among hikers and photographers for its colorful, undulating forms, and the rugged, trackless hike required to reach it.
Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska includes an important 19th-century landmark on the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail. The monument is composed of five rock formations named Crown Rock, Dome Rock, Eagle Rock, Saddle Rock, and Sentinel Rock.
Ball’s Pyramid is an erosional remnant of a shield volcano and caldera that formed about 7 million years ago. It lies 20 kilometers (12 mi) southeast of Lord Howe Island in the Pacific Ocean. It is 562 meters (1,844 ft) high, making it the tallest volcanic stack in the world.
The Stone Forest is a notable set of limestone formations located near Shilin approximately 120 km (75 mi) from the provincial capital Kunming, China. The tall rocks seem to emanate from the ground in the manner of stalagmites, with many loing like petrified trees thereby creating the illusion of a forest made of stone.
The Ennedi Range of Chad is a beautiful part of the Sahara Desert in the northeastern section of the country of Chad. Travel to this area is difficult and dangerous due to the country’s poverty, lack of tourist facilities, political unrest, and highway banditry. The Ennedi contains hundreds of natural arches, few of which are documented.
The Azure Window is a natural arch in the Maltese island of Gozo featuring a table-like rock over the sea. It is situated near two other famous natural landmarks – the Inland Sea, and Dwejra Bay. The stunning geography of the area was created thousands of years ago when two limestone caves collapsed.
The Externsteine are a distinctive rock formation located in the district of Lippe within the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, not far from the city of Detmold at Horn-Bad Meinberg. The formation consists of several tall, narrow columns of rock which rise abruptly from the surrounding wooded hills.
Étretat is a commune in northern France. best known for its cliffs, including three natural arches and the pointed “needle”. Two of the three famous arches are seen from the town, the Porte d’Aval, and the Porte d’Amont. The Manneporte is the third and the biggest one, and cannot be seen from the town.
Off the coast of Raouché, there is a natural landmark called the Pigeons’ Rock (also known as the Rock of Raouché). Located at Beirut’s westernmost tip, the two huge rock formations, which stand like gigantic sentinels, are a popular destination for locals and visitors alike.
The Bungle Bungles is the landform that is the major component of the Purnululu National Park in Western Australia. The distinctive beehive-shaped towers are made up of sandstones and conglomerates (rocks composed mainly of pebbles and boulders and cemented together by finer material).
The Old Man of Hoy is a red sandstone stack, perched on a plinth of basalt rock. It stands close to Rackwick Bay on the west coast of the island of Hoy, in the Orkney Islands, Scotland and is a distinctive landmark seen from the Thurso to Stromness ferry. From certain angles, it is said to resemble a human figure.
The Great White Throne is a mountain of white Navajo Sandstone situated in Zion National Park of southwestern Utah. The north face rises 2,350 feet (720 m) in 1,500 feet (460 m) from the floor of Zion Canyon near Angels Landing. It is often used as a symbol of Zion National Park.
The Organ Pipes National Park is located in Victoria, Australia. Within Organ Pipes National Park, the valley walls of Jackson’s Creek expose Pleistocene volcanic rocks of the New Volcanic Group. These 2.5 to 2.8 million-year-old basalt lavas, commonly known as “trap rock,” fractured during cooling into vertically standing, hexagonal basalt columns.
Michael Glass