Lena’s Stone Forest in Russia

Lena’s Stone Forest, is also called Lena's Pillars, actually a natural rock formation about 60 km upriver from Yakutsk, in Russia. Lens’s Pillars are amazing stone structures towers over 150 meters in height and extends along the river for about 80km. This magical place has captivated travelers since the 17th century, however getting there is a real challenge.  Lena Stone forest contains exceptional evidences of the Earth and its living population development history. Plentiful fossils of ancient organisms found here are exclusive preserved evidences of a very significant stage in the history of the organic world and a biodiversity "boom” that occurred in lower Cambrian epoch. This exclusive ecological and tourism location was submitted as a World Heritage site in 2006. Moreover, in Lena Pillars area the fossils of mammoth fauna representatives were found: mammoth (Mammulhus primigenius Blum), bison (Bison priscus Boj), fleecy rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiguibatis Blum), Lena horse (Eggus lenensis Russ), Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L) and ancient organisms like mollusks, shells, sponges, and trilobites, dating back to the Cambrian Explosion were also found beautifully preserved.

These isolated, towering pillars can reach more than 100 meters in height. The pillars’ rocks formed in Cambrian sea basins more than 500 million years ago and are made up of alternating layers of limestone, marlstone, dolomite, and slate. This areas severe climate and the humidity from the river create risky temperature swings, from +40 °C in the summer to -60 °C in winter. Therefore, this has caused a cryogenic process, containing of a freeze-thaw action that shatters the rock, widening the gullies between them.

The journey starts from Moscow city from where you will have to take a four day journey to the Siberian area of Yakutsk. First, you have to take a flight to Yakutsk, so long that if you flew opposite direction you could easily come to New York. The average price for such flight costs around $800. From Yakutsk you have to take a boat. However, supposedly only a half a day’s trip upriver, it takes considerably longer and the locals can offer you a three day trip on a small boat for about $500. Eventually after 4 days of travel, you’ll be able to have arrived at your destination.