Stone forest of Yakutia. To the south of Yakutsk there is an extended stone ridge called the Lena Pillars. It is located on the banks of the Lena River, from which it got its name. The length of the ridge is about 80 km, if we count the accumulations of the largest rocks. The highest of them rise 200 meters above the river bank. The massif is formed by ancient limestones and began to form more than half a billion years ago.
Lena Pillars is the most famous landmark of Yakutia, which can be accessed at any time of the year. Lena Pillars is a unique landscape complex located along the banks of the Lena River in Yakutia. Rock formations of an elongated, unusual shape border the water artery for several kilometers. The natural landmark is divided by a natural barrier - a wide waterway. On the right bank there is a section "Stolby", and on the left - "Sinsky". The area is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A national park has been created on its territory. 
For a long time this place was sacred for Yakuts and Evenks
In ancient times, this place was considered sacred. Ordinary mortals were not allowed to approach the Pillars, otherwise heavenly punishment could fall on them. Visit sacred place only elders and shamans had the right to talk with the spirits of the rocks. The awe evoked in people by this place is explained by the visual feature of the rock formations - from a distance they resemble petrified, standing people. There are many legends associated with this illusion. 
Geologically, the rocks are a sample of the Early Paleozoic formations of sedimentary rocks. In ancient times, at the foot of their place was a shallow warm sea, which washed the ancient Siberian continental area. It was its inhabitants who formed the rocks with the remains of their skeletons and shells. After that, the sea dried up, and as a result of a tectonic fault, the valley of the Lena River crashed into the land. River activity, weathering and activation of karst processes led to the formation of these bizarre forms.
Lena Pillars - a true treasury for science
You can admire the Pillars from the river - this is a wall of slender, high outliers of a rare shape, they stretch, as if outgrowing from under the ground. Top view and walking tourist route just as impressive. The closer you get to the Pillars, the more bizarre forms they protrude from the total mass of the stone wall. Some formations look like old ones gothic castles, others resemble tall medieval towers without windows, while others resemble rows of stone trees or elongated faces of people. Silence, calmness and smooth water surface create a special mood. The name “temple of nature” is very suitable for this place. When the sun goes down, the shadows lengthen and begin to move - this creates the illusion of mobility of the rocky Pillars - they sway and want to say something. Who knows, maybe they really have something to tell? There is no doubt about this - the ancient remnants have witnessed several eras, a change in climate and relief. 
Lena Pillars - a monument to the history of the Earth
Lena Pillars are interesting not only from the point of view of geology - it is a unique monument of archeology and history. The remains of animal organisms were ideally preserved in their sediments. The fauna was extremely diverse here, various representatives of groups with bone and mineral skeletons, buffaloes, mammoths, rhinos, horses. Some specimens retained soft tissue and even embryos. That is why the protected area has such a high scientific value. Stone formations are not the only landscapes of the Lensky Reserve that are admirable. Tukulan sands are located on the same territory. This loose, migratory mass of light color develops over the territory, creating bizarre wavy dunes. Within the sands, there are sections of the cold northern desert.
Lena Pillars began to be actively visited only at the beginning of the last century. Therefore, the anthropogenic factor did not have time to fundamentally affect the unique natural object. Local authorities carefully monitor the protection of the site, while simultaneously contributing to the development of tourism. The ecosystem of the surrounding nature is unique and has not been changed by man, which is another valuable feature of this natural park... When you come here, try to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the surrounding natural idyll. This is the place of epics and legends, shamans and outlandish creatures. Among the local population, there is a belief that a snowman of enormous growth walks in the mountains and along the banks of the river. On his belt hangs a pouch with a potion made of wool and animal claws. He can attack the wanderers he dislikes, but he can also help the lost, or show the place where the treasure is hidden. 
Journey to the Lena Pillars
Lena Pillars can be visited all year round... Lena freezes and you can get to the place on snowmobiles along it. In summer, it is possible to travel by boat of any kind. The territory of the park is divided into routes of varying difficulty and duration. The hiking trails are well equipped with log steps, wooden railings, gazebos, benches and occult areas - places of communication with the spirits of nature. The reserve is a favorite resting place for the local population and an interesting tourist attraction. You can arrange an excursion on a motor ship, carry out river rafting or arrange an extreme hike. The beauty of the Lena banks and the water surface itself is simply mesmerizing, and the presence of historical, natural and geological monuments makes the trip very informative.
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The trip to the park can take several days. Arriving at the territory of the Pillars, you must definitely climb to the top and forever remember the stunning landscape that will stretch out before your eyes. Here, at the prepared sites, organized tourist groups entertain with shamanic performances - ritual rituals. The caves located in the outliers are very interesting. The most accessible and frequently visited Nostril Cave, it is formed by several halls. The length of the stone dungeon is 33 meters, the height is 8 meters. The most romantic trip can be called river cruise, which originates in Yakutsk. The trip can be carried out from June to September. For those who love extreme sports, you can ride along the Yakutsk tracts in an off-road vehicle to the village of Elanka, then by motorboat to the banks of the Lena Pillars. 
Sandy arrays "Tukulan"
Translated from the Evenk language, Tukulan means sands. The air temperature reaches +40 degrees C. Tukulan is located 8 km from the mouth of the Buotama River. Tukulan "Samys Kumaga" 40 km from the mouth of the Buotama river. It is supposed to develop extreme tourism in the summer Aeolian landforms devoid of vegetation: sickle-shaped, staple-shaped, spear-shaped dunes, blowing hollows, and only instead of the tumbleweed, which is characteristic of Central Asian deserts, there is a rare plant endemic to the Scriabin thin-legged. Just below this sandy phenomenon is the mouth of the Buotoma River - a wonderful bright valley, favored by water tourists, although it is difficult to access in the upper reaches, from where it is convenient to start rafting along it. 
Lena and Sinskie Pillars are steep, completely sheer cliffs composed of Cambrian limestones. Such limestones were first discovered and described in England, in the county of Wales (the old name is Cambria). Subsequently, the land rose high above sea level, powerful faults in the earth's crust violated its surface. Time, precipitation, river water and wind have turned the earth's stone firmament into bizarre structures of the Lena Pillars. Their length along the banks of the Lena River, together with powerful stone outlier rocks, is about 80 km. In 1966, the first All-Union tourist route opened to the Lena Pillars - since that time, people from all over the country and from abroad come to admire the miracle of nature.
On the rocks, in the river valleys they meet cave drawings- "writings", ancient Türkic runic inscriptions. Bloody drawings on the rocks along the banks of the Lena River form a one-of-a-kind gallery of ancient fine art. The drawings are about 5-8 thousand years old. Only shamans were allowed to paint on the stone. Most of the images contain mystical signs - shaman tambourines, symbols of other worlds. Most of the scribbles were performed in such a way that even now they can only be seen under certain lighting conditions at certain times of the day. Many drawings are hidden from prying eyes in stone niches and grottoes, under some there are altars. The semantics of the drawings is associated with the cult beliefs of the ancient inhabitants of Yakutia.
The parking lot of the ancient man "Deering-Yuryakh"
Slightly below the “pillars” is the mouth of a small brook Diring-Yuryakh, with traces of the camp of archaeologists that once was there. For many years they have been carrying out excavations in this area and usually organize for tourists an interesting excursion into the distant past. Here, in the area of Diring-Yuryakh, the oldest tools on earth were found - stone choppers. Similar, barely processed, stone tools, made of flint boulders and pebbles, had previously been found only in Africa, therefore this continent was considered the ancestral home of mankind. The version put forward by the Yakut scientists was simple and logical: if the great glaciation started from here, then the first person should have appeared to take up a tool in order to survive. And with the discovery of choppers, this version received some confirmation. 
At the bottom of the neat quarries, opened with powerful equipment, and then with spatulas and brushes, the most ancient ones, speckled with numerous blows of "anvils", are preserved, there are unsuccessful items, rounded by time, but after many thousands of years coinciding at the place of the split. Unfortunately, there are no organic remains, but what is there is impressive. It is possible that somewhere in the rocky house of the Lena pillars there will also be a dwelling of those people who came to Deering-Yuryakh to work in a primitive “workshop”. Near the excavation site, a cave was discovered that served as a dwelling at a later time, in the Neolithic era.
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The results of these excavations are unique only archaeologically, but also geologically. Geological sections, exposed by pits and ditches of archaeologists, testify to the complex variations of ancient climates and associated geological processes. But each line understood in this book of the nature and formation of mankind gives rise to new doubts, questions and ideas. And there is no limit to the inquisitive thought of researchers of the prehistoric past of the ancient land near the Leningrad region.
Elanka, founded in 1830 as a post station, is located on the high left bank of the Lena. Not far from the village of Elanki and on the Toyon-Ary cape (near the village of the same name), the rock creations of primitive artists, discovered by Academician A. Okladnikovs, have been preserved.
The main objective of the Lena Pillars Park is the development of ecological tourism. Ecological tourism means communication with a living wild nature without causing damage.
Majestic rivers: Blue - with clear water, all surrounded by beautiful graceful rocks, Buotama - seething along the mountain rifts falls into the Lena and of course, Lena - the blue meridian, which in our middle reaches simply amazes with its magnificence and grandeur.
Come to the park, enjoy the communion with nature.
Fascinating nature, historical monuments - all this will remain in your memory for a lifetime, after visiting this wonderful place in our country.
There is a wonderful place in Russia that not so many people know about. Personally, until recently, I had never heard of it, and when I found out, I was very surprised at how little we know about the wealth of our country. I want to tell you about the Lena Pillars nature reserve, which is located on the banks of the Lena River in Yakutia.
The natural park "Lena Pillars" was founded relatively recently, in the mid-90s. Its main purpose is the development of ecotourism and the protection of rock formations, actually pillars, towering along the banks of the Lena in a bizarre forest. And just a couple of years ago, the Lena Pillars were included in the list World heritage UNESCO as a natural site.
According to scientists, the formation of these formations began in the Cambrian period, that is, about 500 million years ago. Many, many million years ago there were huge rocks here, and then the processes of erosion and weathering formed high, up to 100 meters in height, vertical stone pillars. About the same formed - the Pillars of weathering in the Komi Republic.
The Lena Pillars, as we can observe them today, have existed for about 400 thousand years, that is, by the standards of the age of our planet - “recently”. They stretch for several kilometers along the right bank of the Lena, about 100 km south-west of the city of Pokrovsk, and make a mystical impression. The places here can be said to be wild, sparsely populated. The silence is unimaginable, and the purity of the air makes an unprepared city dweller dizzy. Peace and quiet descend on tourists who dared to go on a journey to meet these ancient rocks.
The reserve offers a wide range of excursion routes - river rafting, recreation at local camp sites, walking tours, fishing. It should be borne in mind that the park is a specially protected natural object with strictly regulated visiting rules, which you need to familiarize yourself with. But compliance with these rules is, of course, on the conscience of each individual tourist.
In addition to the pillars, the park has another remarkable natural object - Tukulans, which are called the "desert of Yakutia". These are fluttering sands, with a peculiar vegetation and ecosystem, very dynamic, constantly changing and very picturesque.
In the reserve, active scientific research is being carried out not only by biologists, but also by archaeologists, since ancient fossils of mammoths, woolly rhinos and other prehistoric animals were discovered here.
For a long time this photo has been lying on my computer, I thought everyone would reach their hands - I’ll find out where this unearthly landscape is. What are these rocky heaps! Now my hands have reached and you know - I was surprised! Let's tell you more under the cut.
Lena Pillars- geological education and the eponymous national nature Park in Russia, on the banks of the Lena River. It is located in the Khangalassky ulus of Yakutia, 104 km from the city of Pokrovsk. The Lena Pillars are a complex of vertically elongated rocks stretching for many kilometers, fancifully piling up along the Lena bank, a deep valley cutting through the Prilenskoe plateau. The pillars reach the highest density between the villages of Petrovskoye and Tit-Ary.
Rock formations, the height of which reaches 100 meters, are composed of Cambrian limestones. Tectonically, the Lena Pillars lie within the Siberian platform. The beginning of the formation of rocks that formed this natural monument is usually dated to the Early Cambrian - 560-540 million years ago. The formation of the Lena Pillars as a landform is dated to a much later period - about 400 thousand years ago, that is, a relatively recent geological time. The territory of the Siberian platform was subjected to gradual uplift, which resulted in the emergence of faults and the formation of deep river valleys. This led to the activation of karst processes, which, along with the continuing erosional weathering, gave rise to such whimsical and diverse forms of rocks composed of carbonate rocks.
The park's area is 485 thousand hectares, the park consists of two branches - "Stolby" and "Sinsky". In addition to the well-known stone "pillars", there are such remarkable objects in the park as fluttering sands-tukulans with separate sections of the cold northern sandy desert, an ancient man's camp at the mouth of the Diring-Yuryakh stream, during the excavations of which stone tools were found (Deering culture ). There are unique permafrost ecosystems. In the area of the park, fossilized remains of representatives of the ancient fauna were found: mammoth (Mammulhus primigenius Blum), bison (Bison priscus Boj), woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiguibatis Blum), etc.
Close up, each pillar resembles a magical statue, an ingenious sculpture. They remind someone of medieval castles, churches, eastern columns. Someone claims that the rocks are the heroes of the folk heroic epic. The Lena Pillars (Turuuk Hayalara) stretch along the river bank for a distance of more than 40 km. On the rocks, towering along the banks of the Lena and Sinyaya rivers, numerous petroglyphs were found, made with yellow mineral paint by the ancient inhabitants of these places. These are, to varying degrees, preserved stylized images of animals, fragments of inscriptions of ancient Turkic runic writing, rock compositions with the image of a person.
Lena and Sinskie pillars are steep, completely sheer cliffs composed of Cambrian limestones. Such limestones were first discovered and described in England, in the county of Wales (the old name is Cambria). Time, precipitation, river water and wind have given the earth's stone firmament bizarre shapes. The length of the pillars, together with powerful stone outlier rocks along the bank of the river. Lena is about 80 km. Lena Pillars have long attracted the attention of travelers and researchers. They are located on the right bank of the Lena River opposite the village. Batamay, 200 km above the city of Yakutsk. Depending on the degree of weathering, rocks disintegrate into pillars, spiers, rocks, towers, and other bizarre forms, and also form extended talus.
Above Lena, the pillars usually rise in several tiers. The presence of longlines is explained by outcrops of rocks of different stability. They are characteristic of the entire right slope of the river valley. Lena on this site. Now Lena and Sinskie pillars, the valley of the river. Sinyaya and the interfluve of Lena and Buotam are included in the system of specially protected natural areas as national natural parks. This is a great place for those who love nature and new experiences.
The pillars on the Lena River are amazing evidence of the development of the Earth over millions of years. Numerous fossils of ancient organisms were found here - unique preserved evidence of a very important stage in the history of the development of the organic world and many biological species in the Cambrian era. Remains of mammoths, bison, rhinos and many other animals have been found here.
Lena Pillars were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2006, as one of the most amazing places on our planet with an ideal ecosystem, untouched by man
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The Lena Pillars, also known as the Stone Forest on the Lena River, are a natural mountain formation. They are located approximately 60 kilometers upstream of the city of Yakutsk in Russia. The amazing stone towers, more than 150 meters high, stretch along the river for approximately 80 kilometers. These pillars were discovered in the 17th century, but getting here was not an easy task. The journey will take at least three days if heading here from Moscow. First of all, you need to get to Yakutsk through the whole of Siberia, in Yakutsk you need to take a boat and spend another half day to get to the stone forest along the Lena river. Finally, upon arriving at the final destination, locals easily organize excursions for you, which will also take several days. We will not even talk about the cost of such a trip.
The pillars on the Lena River are amazing evidence of the development of the Earth over millions of years. Numerous fossils of the most ancient organisms were found here - unique preserved evidence of a very important stage in the history of the development of the organic world and many biological species in the Cambrian era. The remains of mammoths, bison, rhinos and many other animals were found here. 
Lena Pillars were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2006, as one of the most amazing places on our planet with an ideal ecosystem, untouched by man.
It is worth adding that similar place there is also in China - this
The average height of the Lena Pillars reaches 220 m above the river level.
At the base of these river rocks are limestones of the Cambrian period, about 550 million years old, formed from the bottom sediments of the shallow and warm sea... The Lena Pillars themselves were formed much later - "only" about 400 thousand years ago.
Lena Pillars are located within the tectonic Siberian platform. About half a million years ago, faults were formed here as a result of tectonic processes, in which river beds began to emerge, and subsequently deep river valleys, which caused the development of karst processes (washout of limestone rock). Together with the strongest erosional weathering and a significant amplitude of the annual temperature (up to 100 ° C: from -60 ° C in winter to + 40 ° C in summer), it has formed a peculiar configuration of rocks. Each vertical crack in the limestone massif continuously expanded under the influence of water, wind and temperature, which led to the separation of the next block from the general rock massif.
Also noteworthy is the unusual color of the rocks of the Lena Pillars, in which red sandstone is interspersed with light gray limestone.
Lena Pillars are still a sacred place for Yakuts and Evenks today. In the old days, only shamans could come here, an ordinary person was afraid of the spirits of the rocks, considering the pillars to be petrified people.
Lena Pillars stand in groups along several long sections of the middle reaches of the Lena River, on its right bank.
National Natural Park "Lena Pillars"
Lena Pillars is also a natural park, organized in 1995 and subordinate to the Yakut Ministry of Nature Protection.
The natural park Lena Pillars was organized by the decree of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 1994 and the decree of the Russian government in 1995. Currently, it is subordinate to the Yakut Ministry of Nature Protection. The documents of the park indicate that its main task is the development of ecological tourism.
In addition to the Lena Pillars, there are three more valuable natural site: Sinskie pillars, Buotam pillars and tukulan sands - Samye Kumaga and Kysyl Elesin.
The zone of sands-tukulans up to 5 km long also includes separate sections of the cold northern sandy desert. There are also areas of permafrost with a unique flora and fauna.
The proof that people of the Stone Age lived here - the inhabitants of the banks of the Lena River - is the site of an ancient man at the mouth of the Diring-Yuryakh stream, belonging to the Ymyakhtakh culture and the Diring Paleolithic culture. The age of the latter has caused fierce controversy among archaeologists around the world.
Also in the area of the park were found fossilized remains of representatives of the ancient fauna: mammoth, bison, woolly rhinoceros.
Representatives of the modern fauna inhabiting the Lena Pillars area include musk deer, red deer, northern pika, sable, brown bear, elk, and roe deer. Within the Lena site, which is part of the park, Siberian lamprey, Siberian sturgeon, taimen, East Siberian lenok, tugun, whitefish, pyzhyan, valek, East Siberian grayling, nelma, Siberian vendace, omul, muksun are found. Among the birds there are protected species of world importance: kpoktun, osprey, golden eagle and peregrine falcon.
According to its natural criteria, the Lena Pillars were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012.
general information
Location: central Yakutia, Russia.Origin: The result of water and wind erosion, as well as a significant annual temperature range.
The Lena Pillars Natural Park was formed: in 1995
Lena river.
Numbers
Lena Pillars Length: 40 km.Average height above river level: 220 m.
Maximum height above river level: 321 m.
Distance: 104 km downstream of the Lena - the city of Pokrovsk, 200 km - the city of Yakutsk.
Lena Pillars natural park area: 4.85 km 2.
Climate and weather
Sharp continental.Winters are long and harsh, summers are warm, often hot, but short.
Average January temperature: -39 ° C.
Average temperature in July: + 18.5 ° C.
Average annual rainfall: 320 mm.
Relative humidity: 70%.
sights
■ Natural: geological complex Lena Pillars, Natural Park Lena Pillars (including Lenskie, Buotamsky and Sinskie Pillars, sand dunes tukulans, permafrost ecosystems, forest bison nursery "Bizonoriy"), Nozdrevataya cave.■ Historical: petroglyphs - petroglyphs of animals, the site of the ancient man Diring-Yuryakh (I thousand BC).
Curious facts
■ Pillars in Siberia have long been used to refer to picturesque rocky peaks, outliers, ridges of pillar-shaped outcrops formed as a result of the weathering of crystalline rocks. In addition to the Lena pillars, the Nizhneudinsk and Krasnoyarsk pillars are also known.■ The name of the large waving sandy massifs of Tukulans comes from the Evenk "tukala" - sand. Accordingly, "tukalan" is a sandy massif or dune.
■ Abroad, geological formations similar to the Lena Pillars are the multi-colored pillars of the Valley of Monuments along the border American states Arizona and Utah, and columnar forms Grand canyon in Arizona and Shilin Stone Forest in China.
■ In the area of excavations in 1982 at the site of a Neolithic burial of the Ymyakhtakh culture of the 2nd millennium BC. NS. Stone tools of the Deering culture were discovered, which originally dated back to 2-3 million years. But, if this is so, then in Siberia a man appeared earlier than in North Africa - the ancestral home of Homo habilis (a man of skill) recognized by archaeologists. Subsequent analysis showed that the age of the Deering culture is 260-370 thousand years. This indicated that people were exploring the banks of the Lena already in the Lower Paleolithic and could potentially penetrate from here to Beringia and from there to America. True, some scientists argue that the artifacts of this culture are not tools of labor, but natural formations, that is, just stones.
