Tall cliffs, an absolutely solid wall stretching along the right bank of the Lena for four tens of kilometers. To some they resemble the walls of a huge medieval castle, others remember the fangs of a dragon, to others it seems that stone giants are forever frozen in front of them.
But for the Yakuts, these rocks are a monument of love, fidelity and courage, since the Lena Pillars are actually nothing more than a pair of lovers who were enchanted by the dragon: the young man defeated an evil snake in a deadly duel, who wanted to marry his beloved, but that managed to get revenge.
Where is Stone Forest
The Lena Pillars are located, and with it the national natural park of the same name, on the territory of Russia, in the Republic of Sakha, in the Khangalassky region (ulus) of Yakutia, on the right bank of the Lena River (on the geographical map of the world, the exact location can be calculated by the following coordinates: 61 ° 7 ′ 45.48 ″ N, 127 ° 31 ′ 4.8 ″ E).
To get here from Moscow, you need to spend several days: just the flight to Yakutsk will take about seven hours (to get to this city, you need to fly across all of Siberia). To get to the Lena Pillars from the capital of Yakutia, you can use a boat or a motor ship (on average, the journey will take about twelve hours). Locals will tell you where to go next, conduct excursions and show the most interesting places on the map.
Promotional video:
Stone forest of the Lena river
Currently, this unique geological formation is included in the list of wonders of Russia and is a natural monument of world importance. Several years ago, UNESCO took the territory on which the Lena Pillars are located under its protection.
In reality, the Lena Pillars are sheer cliffs formed of limestone, which, under the influence of the harsh climatic conditions of Yakutia, disintegrated into separate parts, formed vertically elongated rocks of a bizarre shape with a height of one to two hundred meters. The stone forest stretches along the Lena for forty kilometers, while the rocks are quite close to each other, and the most densely located between the village of Petrovskoye and the Tit-Ary river islands.
The mountains that formed the Lena Pillars began to form about 550 million years ago on the site of a once shallow sea that was lapping here, at the bottom of which limestone was gradually accumulating. It disappeared after the Siberian platform began to rise, forming rocky formations composed of limestone, faults and river valleys, while the shape of the mountains was influenced by erosion, in particular - weathering.
This process lasted a long time, until 400 thousand years ago, a stone forest was formed, the bizarre forms of which have been admiring and striking the human imagination for many centuries.
Eyewitnesses say: the Lena Pillars look especially charming at dawn, when the red sandstone rocks illuminated by the rays of the rising sun resemble a medieval palace, and thanks to the flowing at the foot of the river, all this looks several times larger and more majestic. But at sunset, the view of the rocks is somewhat ominous and looks like the castle of an evil sorcerer.
It is interesting that on the slopes of the rocks of the Lena Pillars, many caves were discovered, on the walls of which drawings of ancient people who lived in this area were painted in yellow paint, as well as tools were found. On the territory of the national park, the remains of mammoths, rhinos, bison were identified, and in the fragments of rocks - fossils of trilobites, an extinct class of marine arthropods that lived more than 200 million years ago.
Due to its unique natural attractions and unique finds found on the territory of the reserve, it is not surprising that UNESCO nevertheless decided to include the Lena Rocks National Park in the World Heritage List and took these lands under its protection.
National reserve of Yakutia
It is interesting that the natural park "Lena Pillars", where the stone forest is located, has a huge territory: the area of the protected area is 81 thousand hectares, and the length along the Lena River is 220 km. On its territory, in addition to the Lena Pillars, there are three more natural sites protected by UNESCO:
Buotam pillars - these rocky formations, located below the mouth of the Kharya-Yurekh Buotama river, consist mainly of marl, dolomite and limestone, which give the pillars a multi-colored texture;
Sinskie pillars - despite the fact that these rocks are not as high as the Lena ones (their height rarely exceeds 100 m), they also attract the attention of tourists.
Tukulans are large sandy massifs, more characteristic of the desert. Their uniqueness is that they are not only located in the middle of the green taiga, but also occupy a considerable area, for example, the length of one of the dunes, Saamys Kumaga, is about 5 km, and the width is almost 900 m.
The Lena Pillars reserve is located entirely on undeveloped land, and therefore any economic work is prohibited here. In addition, several waterways of the region flow through the park at once: the Lena, the second longest river in Russia, and its tributaries - Buotama (sites of primitive people were found near its banks) and Sinyaya.
On the territory of the national park, there are many lakes with a depth of two to three meters, formed both in natural relief depressions and on flat watersheds. These lakes are filled with water due to rainfall (and therefore, during a drought, large reservoirs become shallow, and small ones dry up altogether), their banks are flat and almost always swampy.
The diversity of flora and fauna of the national park cannot but amaze: there are about 500 species of plants (of which about twenty are listed in the Red Book of Russia), 42 species of mammals, more than a hundred species of nesting birds, a huge number of fish and many reptiles.
Climate
The climate in the Lena Pillars park is sharply continental and very contrasting. If in winter the air temperature often drops below -36 ° C and lasts about six months, then in summer these figures may well be both + 20 ° C and + 40 ° C.
Do not forget that for Yakutia and for the natural park "Lena Pillars", permafrost is characteristic, as a result of which the ground freezes very deeply (from 100 to 700 meters). This situation arose due to the fact that the Atlantic Ocean is located far from this area, and the high mountains of South and East Siberia are natural barriers to air masses coming from the Pacific and Indian Oceans, while air currents quickly reach here from the Arctic. Those wishing to come to this harsh land should be prepared for extreme conditions.