Famous Rock Formations

These rock formations may not be as awesome as the Grand Canyon or as majestic as Uluru, but they are still nature's wonder.

Sit back and relax! And hope you enjoy a tour to these world famous rock formations, as follows:

Amah Rock

A granite rock located on top of a hill near Sha Tin in Kowloon Hongkong, resembling a woman with child on her back. Its Cantonese name "Mong Fu Shek" literally means "the stone that is gazing out for her husband." According to legend, it was where a fisherman's wife faithfully waited with her son for her husband, who never returned, so the gods took pity on her by turning her into stone.

Wave Rock

An amazing rock formation situated near Hyden town in Western Australia, where one can find other equally amazing formations such as the "Hippo's Yawn" and the "Humps." Standing about 14 meters in height and 110 meter long, it is shaped like a giant wave that is just about to break onto a 2.7 trillion-year-old prehistoric surf, but frozen in time.

Queen's Head

Lying along the coastal area of Taipei's county of Yehliu in Taiwan are countless mushroom rock formations of thick sandstone that are named after objects they resemble such as fairy shoe and candlesticks, but the most well-known of all is this rock that is shaped like an Egyptian woman's head. Its name is a literal translation of its Mandarin name: "Nu Wang tou."

Bowerman's Nose

A large stack of granite located in Dartmoor Great Britain, which you can make out a human face in its rocky outline with a little bit of imagination. According to a local folklore, a Norman hunter went out with his hounds so engrossed in chasing hares that they accidentally crashed into a coven of witches disrupting their ceremony; the witches in revenge turned him into stone.

Old Man of the Mountain

A granite rock-face profile protruding out from Profile Mountain above Profile Lake that could once be seen as one travel along I-93 in Franconia Notch State Park. This once state symbol of New Hampshire of the United States, also known as "The Great Stone Face" or "The Profile," unfortunately collapsed in the year 2003 due to centuries of erosion by wind and rain.

Flowerpot Rocks

Also called Hopewell Rocks, they are located in a popular tourist destination at Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick, Canada. The bases of these breathtaking sandstone formations have been worn away for thousands of years by the Bay of Fundy's powerful tidal waves.

Devil's Organ Pipes

A truly remarkable formation of around 40,000 basaltic columns of volcanic origin that resembles an organ overlooking the Giant's Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. According to Irish legend, it was built by the giant Fionn MacCumhail so that he could walk to Scotland to fight against the Scottish giant, Benandonner.

Lotus Flower Peak

The highest of the 72 peaks of Huangshan (Yellow Mountains) located in south Anhui province in China. It is a literal translation of its Chinese name "Lian Hua Feng" due to its likeness to a lotus flower in full bloom. In fact, Huangshan is is famous for its oddly-shaped pines, mountain springs and cloud seas and especially for its numerous rock formations that seemingly combine to form human and animal figures that have names as "Five Old Men Going to the Heavenly Capital" and "Flowers Painted with a Dreamed Writing Brush."

Jug Rock

A large, free-standing table rock formation made up of sandstone that is located outside the town of Shoals near the East Fork of White River in Indiana, United States. It somehow looks a water container with a lid on it, and has a companion rock known as the "House Rock" standing opposite it.

Fairy Chimneys

The signature of the Cappadocia region in Turkey, these magnificent formations are made up of an erosion-resistant basalt layer on top of cone-shaped pillar of volcanic ashes that have solidified into the soft rock called tufa. In fact, caves, churches, houses and various other structures have been carved into them.