Yelhiu Geopark is a naturally formed landscape that seems like it belongs in another world. This geological site is located on the northern coast of Taiwan about a 30 minute drive from Taipei which makes it an easy daytrip if you are staying in Taipei. The Yelhiu Geopark formations were create along the shoreline for a distance of 1.7 km. The photo below is an example of how the site looks but is just a small portion of the overall site.

There are 2 distinct formations that I found interesting. The first and most noticeable are the pedestal rocks with honeycombing on top and the second is known as Candle Shaped Rocks.

Honeycombed Rocks

Honeycombed rocks refer to the rocks that are covered with holes of different sizes and appear like a honeycomb. A large portion of the rock formations look like mushroom rocks. These rocks have large round honeycombed tops being supported by thin smooth stone pedestals.

Not all of the top are round, some are odd shapes.

The most famous rock formation in the park is called the “Queen’s Head” because it looks like a profile of a queen.

Other unusual rock formations include rocks that look like an ice cream cone, one with a hole in the middle and some are split in the middle.

Candle Shaped Rocks

The other distinctive rock formation in the park are the candle shaped rocks. These rocks are conical rocks with the top narrower that the bottom with a round rock setting in a circular recessed top. The round rock looks like a candle flame surrounded by melted wax (water).

Besides the honeycomb and candle shaped rocks there are some other rock formations that are also interesting. Some of these are shown below.

In addition to the natural rock formations, there are some fossilized sand dollars that can be seen if you take time and look around.

Just like any tourist site, I would recommend going early because once the tourist buses show up it will get crowded as seen in the photo below.

 

The Dust on My Shoes

Visiting unusual rock formations are one of my favorite activities when I travel. Seeing these formations lets me spend time in nature and the oddity of them is just fun to experience.

The Yelhiu Geopark has two unusual rock formations that I have never seen before and both are equally amazing. I am sure that geologist have very logical explanations of how both of these formations were created but that takes away the fun of just looking at them with amazement.

The honeycomb rocks are such a contrast between the rugged top and the smooth column supporting the top. Equally unlikely are how a round rock is formed on top of cylinder rock column of the candle shaped rocks. It really doesn’t seem possible that these formations could happen. Truly amazing!

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