Balancing act

Kannesteinen Vågsøy (Norway) 

Supported by a narrow trunk, this huge stone is located in high water near the village of Oppedal in the Municipality of Vågsøy. This giant, mushroom-like rock clocks in at 3 metres tall and is thousands of years old. It was formed artistically by the might of the sea, which eroded some parts of it to give it a spectacular shape.

Wikimedia Commons - Photo credit: Chell Hill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chiricahua National Monument 

About 27 million years ago, a huge volcanic eruption deposited a layer of dark ash and pumice over what is today the Chiricahua National Monument. Over time, the thick volcanic layer eroded into a stunning landscape of cliffs, hoodoos, and balancing rocks that rise hundreds of feet into the air.

Federica Grassi / Getty Images

 

Mt. Tai's Immortal Bridge (China) 

Believed to be from the Ice Age, the rock formation on Mount Tai in the Shandong province of China is composed of three huge boulders and several smaller ones. Mount Tai is a sacred mountain in China; perhaps the sacred connection led to this amazing formation being named the "immortal bridge".

The Cheesewring (Cornish: Keuswask[1]) is a granite tor in Cornwall, United Kingdom, situated on the eastern flank of Bodmin Moor on Stowe's Hill in the parish of Linkinhorne approximately one mile northwest of the village of Minions and four miles (6 km) north of Liskeard. It is a natural geological formation, a rock outcrop of granite slabs formed by weathering. The name derives from the resemblance of the piled slabs to a "cheesewring", a press-like device that was once used to make cheese.

 

Balanced Rock—Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado 

We know what you’re thinking: How is this possible? Well, this 700-tonne red sandstone rock has been putting on this balancing act for two to three million years, but its history goes far beyond that. It started to form over 290 million years ago as Fountain Formation sandstone was deposited along the Ancestral Rockies (a different set of Rocky Mountains that once existed there). Thomas Grose, geology professor emeritus at the Colorado School of Mines, explains that Balanced Rock “was sculpted over the following millennia by glaciers, rivers, wind, and rain.” Since then, erosion has continued to occur, leaving visitors and geologists wondering when the beloved rock will eventually tumble.

Photo: NaughtyNut/Shutterstock

 

Giant’s Causeway—Bushmills, Northern Ireland 

Legend has it, this Irish causeway was used by giants to travel across the sea to Scotland—and we can see why people think that. Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland is made of 40,000 basalt columns protruding from the sea’s surface. This World Heritage Site forms a pavement out of the columns, which are the result of lava cooling around 50 to 60 million years ago.

 

Externsteine in Germany

This is the most sacred of our rock formations. Externsteine is a set of five massive rock columns that tower up from the earth in northern Germany. The rock formations align perfectly with the stars, making it a gathering point for many spiritual people. To this day, there is a chapel on top of one of the rocks that is accessible by an attached footbridge. Getting up there is still not for the faint of heart. You will be crisscrossing and weaving your way up small tunnels and walkways edged precariously in the sides of the limestone pillars to get there. But, if you’re searching for a place to get a little closer to the stars, Externsteine in Germany might be the rock formation for you.