Lena Pillars Park. Lena pillars. Stone forest on the Lena River. Tours, prices, where to stay

The reserve is located on the territory of the Khangalassky and Olekminsky districts (uluses) and consists of two isolated areas: the Stolby Site (located on the right bank of the Lena River and along the Buotama River basin) and the Sinsky Site (located on the left bank of the Lena River above the mouth Sinyaya River).

At all times, this natural formation aroused awe in people. This place has long been sacred for the Yakuts and Evenks. Ordinary people were not allowed to go there. They feared the wrath of the spirits of the rocks. Many believed that the pillars were frozen statues of people created by unknown otherworldly forces. Only a select few, elders or almighty shamans, dared to approach these mysterious rocks.

It has been established that these rocks are Early Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, and the age of the limestones is at least 530-570 million years. Once upon a time there was a shallow, warm sea that washed the shores of the ancient Siberian continent. For millions of years, the dead remains of various small shell organisms settled at its bottom, forming multi-meter strata. Over time, the sea became dry land. Hundreds of millions of years passed, only in the Anthropocene period, under the influence of tectonic processes, the continental Siberian platform slowly rose by 200 m, which led to a deep incision of the Lena River valley. Faults and deep river valleys arose, karst processes intensified, which, along with ongoing erosive weathering, gave rise to such intricate and diverse forms of rocks composed of carbonate rocks. This is how a geological and landscape phenomenon called the Lena Pillars arose. It should be noted that, unlike the northwestern regions of Russia, here during the glaciation era there was a very dry climate, which prevented the formation of glaciers. Even when the temperature dropped as much as possible in the Northern Hemisphere, there was apparently no ice shell here - there are no traces of its influence on the local landscapes.

Russian paleontologists in local sedimentary deposits found 350 Early Cambrian genera of organisms out of 2000 now known to science. The overall diversity of creatures in this region was the highest for the Early Cambrian anywhere in the world. These genera include the first archaeocyaths (primitive sponges), radiocii, corallomorphs, brachiopods, and several other groups of fossil animals with mineral skeletons. In addition, extinct organisms have been found here in exceptionally complete preservation (such as mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, etc.). They form the fossil Sin ecosystem, which includes a number of unique specimens with preserved soft tissues and cells, and even their embryos. The rocks that make up the Lena Pillars are a true treasure trove for science.

In addition to stone pillars, in the park there are such remarkable objects as blowing sand-tuculans with separate areas of cold northern sandy desert and the site of an ancient man at the mouth of the Diring-Yuryakh stream, during the excavations of which stone tools were found.

Tuculans:

Numerous petroglyphs were discovered on the rocks along the banks of the Lena and Sinaya rivers - rock paintings made with yellow mineral paint by the ancient inhabitants of these places. These are stylized images of animals preserved to varying degrees, fragments of inscriptions of ancient Turkic runic writing, rock compositions depicting a person.

The number of travelers visiting these places has increased markedly end of the 19th century century, but even in the dynamic 20th century, due to the remoteness and sparse population of these places, not so many people visited here. In Yakutsk, they began to organize special tourist trips to the Lena Pillars by boat. By the end of the century, the leadership of the Republic of Sakha became concerned with the development international tourism in the region. To do this, it was necessary to preserve not only the stone forest itself in its pristine beauty, but also the surrounding areas. It is very important that local authorities did not wait for guidelines from the capital, but on their own initiative, with the support of the general public of Yakutia, in 1994 they decided to organize natural park"Lena Pillars".

Office national park:

Since then, unique landscapes have become increasingly famous. Pillars today - popular place recreation for tourists and Yakut residents (from Yakutsk to the pillars is about 180 km). In summer, river workers organize boat excursions here. You can't do without a camera, video camera or binoculars here! If you sail upstream of the mighty Lena River, then in the southwest of Yakutia a grandiose panorama of bizarre rocky cliffs appears before the eyes of travelers. This is a unique natural formation in the form of a very extended series of outcrops, stretching in a continuous chain for tens of kilometers along the slopes of the right bank. In some places they look like a colossal, monolithic wall, which is occasionally interrupted by gorges of tributaries of the Lena. But as soon as you approach the pillars, the wall begins to divide into independent, dissimilar sculptures, reminiscent of fairy-tale medieval castles, Gothic temples, or bell towers Orthodox churches. Among the cliffs you can see other creations of the sorceress nature: figures of unknown animals and fairy-tale characters. If you swim for a long time along a ridge of rocks, at times it seems that they come to life and are about to move. This visual effect is especially strong before sunset.

The Lena Pillars were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2006 as one of the amazing places our planet with an ideal ecosystem untouched by humans.

Tall rocks, an absolutely continuous wall stretching along the right bank of the Lena for four dozen kilometers. To some they resemble the walls of a huge medieval castle, others remember the fangs of a dragon, others think that stone giants have frozen in front of them forever.

But for the Yakuts, these rocks are a monument to love, fidelity and courage, since the Lena Pillars are in fact nothing more than a pair of lovers who were bewitched by a dragon: the young man in a mortal duel defeated an evil snake who wanted to marry his beloved, but managed to take revenge.

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 district (ulus) of Yakutia, on the right bank of the Lena (on geographical map the exact location of the world can be calculated using the following coordinates: 61° 7′ 45.48″N. latitude, 127° 31′ 4.8″ h. d.).

To get here from Moscow, you need to spend several days: the flight to Yakutsk alone 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). They will tell you where to go next local residents, will conduct excursions and point out the most interesting places on the map.

Stone forest of the Lena River

Currently, this unique geological formation is included in the list of wonders of Russia and is natural monument of global significance. Several years ago, UNESCO took the territory where the Lena Pillars are located under its protection.

In reality, the Lena Pillars are sheer cliffs formed from limestone, which, under the influence of harsh climatic conditions Yakutia, having broken up into separate parts, formed vertically elongated rocks of bizarre shape with a height of one hundred to two hundred meters.

The stone forest stretches along the Lena for forty kilometers, while the rocks are quite close to each other, and are most densely located between the village of Petrovskoye and the river islands of Tit-Ary.

The mountains that formed the Lena Pillars began to form about 550 million years ago on the site of a once shallow sea splashing here, at the bottom of which limestone gradually accumulated. It disappeared after the Siberian Platform began to rise, forming rocky formations, faults and river valleys made of limestone, while the shape of the mountains was affected 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 delighted and amazed the human imagination for many centuries.

Eyewitnesses say: the Lena Pillars look especially charming at dawn, when illuminated by rays rising sun the red sandstone cliffs resemble a medieval palace, and thanks to the river flowing at the foot of the river, it all looks several times larger and more majestic. But at sunset the appearance 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, and tools were also found.

On the territory of the national park, the remains of mammoths, rhinoceroses, bison were discovered, and in rock fragments - 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 national park"Lena Rocks" to the list World Heritage and took these lands under its protection.

National Reserve of Yakutia

Interestingly, the Lena Pillars natural park, 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:

Buotama 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;
Sinsky pillars - despite the fact that these rocks are not as high as Lena (their height rarely exceeds 100 m), they also attract the attention of tourists.
Tuculans are large sandy massifs, more typical 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 Nature Reserve is located entirely on undeveloped lands, and therefore any economic work is prohibited here. In addition, several waterways of the region flow through the park: the Lena, the second longest river in Russia, and its tributaries - Buotama (sites of primitive people were found along its banks) and Sinaya.

On the territory of the national park there are many lakes with a depth of two to three meters, formed both in natural depressions and on flat watersheds. These lakes are filled with water thanks to rainfall (and therefore during drought, large reservoirs become shallow and small ones dry up completely), their shores are flat and almost always swampy.

The diversity of the 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, great amount fish and quite a few 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 indicators may well be either +20°C or +40°C.

Do not forget that Yakutia and the Lena Pillars natural park are characterized by permafrost, as a result of which the soil freezes very deeply (from 100 to 700 meters). This situation arose due to the fact that Atlantic Ocean located far from this area, and high mountains Southern and Eastern 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 region need to be prepared for extreme conditions.

The Lena Pillars of Yakutia are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, and at the same time are business card Yakutia. 50 kilometers of tall cliffs that stretch along the coast are a truly impressive sight. For some, when they see them, pictures of medieval castles come to mind, while for others their imagination takes them to the land of dragons, others see giants frozen for centuries.

A.A. expressed his admiration for this creation of nature. Bestuzhev–Marlinsky. Today, this mysterious corner of Yakutia attracts tourists from different parts of the world, and the natural park itself is becoming more interesting year from year. The special climate of the area contributes to such qualitative changes. The height of the rocks in some places reaches 100 m. This is truly impressive, and the closer the ship comes to them, the more delight and admiration is born in the chest of the traveler. Those who get here at sunset will be lucky; at this time the pillars with their outlines resemble fairytale palace or some ancient castle, and the river itself at the foot serves as a mirror, making the rocks seem twice as large and majestic.

Since 1995, the Lena Pillars natural park received the status national reserve. If earlier tourists from nearby came here, today foreigners make the pilgrimage, and scientists have also become interested in the place. The latter are attracted by unusual flora and fauna. It is inhabited by unusual species of birds and animals, including bears, wolverines, squirrels, lynxes, muskrats, hares, golden eagles, eagle owls, egrets, and falcons. In the waters of the Lena River there are many different fish, some of which are quite valuable, such as sturgeon, grayling, and nelma. A considerable part of the local fauna and flora is listed on the pages of the Red Book.

The total area of the reserve is 500 hectares. This includes not only tall cliffs, but also forests. The reserve itself consists of two parts - the Lena Pillars themselves and (translated from the local dialect this word means “sands”).

Tours consist of visiting a natural attraction (sometimes mountaineering ascents are organized to some peaks), as well as excursion walks along a sandy area. The second part of the tour is to get acquainted with the local flora and fauna and enjoy the beautiful views. There is something to do here for a tourist who is not used to sitting still: there are dozens of tourist routes, there are picturesque viewing platforms, you can raft on the river.

As soon as mysterious high rocks appear on the horizon, a person immediately forgets all the difficulties that had to be overcome on the way to this park. They literally catch your eye and it’s very difficult to stop looking at their greatness. The cliffs of the natural park are made of red sandstone, and in some places they are overgrown with forest. All this is reflected in the water, as if in a mirror, layers of quartzite sparkle against the sun, cliffs of light gray limestone hang over water surface. The rays of the setting sun change the picture - from calm, silent it becomes almost ominous.

Not every rock allows climbers to approach it, but there are several observation platforms at an altitude of 100 m. They offer stunning views, give you the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the Siberian river, and deeply breathe in the grandeur of Russian nature.

Since the area of the Lena Pillars National Park is not so small, it is better to go here not for one day, but for at least two. Two-day sightseeing tours will open up a lot of interesting things for the traveler. Nature did a good job creating this corner of the planet. Stunning reliefs, unique vegetation and wildlife will forever remain in the memory of everyone who gets acquainted with all this.

The archaeological value of the reserve is great. Research suggests that the formation of a ridge of unusual stone massifs began approximately 400 thousand years ago. The basis of the steep cliffs is Cambrian limestone. And at the Tukulan site, scientists discovered the remains of a mammoth, rhinoceros and bison. Also in this reserve you can find traces of sites of ancient people.

Surprisingly, it was found that ancient people left information about their lives on the pillars themselves, using natural yellow paint. These inscriptions were recently discovered, which increased interest in the park among anthropologists and archaeologists. Some scientists suggest that this is where the “cradle of humanity” could have originated. Such conclusions were made after ancient tools were discovered along the Lena River. All this allows us to say that the Lena Pillars National Park in Russia is a unique place and, definitely, everyone should visit it.

Where are they located?

Many of you have heard about this amazing reserve, but not many know where they are. The Lena Pillars on the map of Russia are located in the Eastern part, or more precisely in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the Khangalassky district, on the right bank of the Lena River. The length of the reserve is more than 50 km. In terms of area, this park occupies a huge territory - about 500 hectares, starting approximately from the village of Kachikatsi and ending near the village of Churan. The distance from the city of Yakutsk to the Lena Pillars is 200 km.

Climate Features

The climate here is perhaps not mild. It would be more accurate to call it sharply continental. In winter, the air temperature in the park drops to -65 degrees Celsius, and in summer it rises to +35 degrees. This is not surprising, because the Lena Pillars are located on the banks of a huge river - the Lena. It is this that gives high humidity, so the park is very cold in winter and stuffy in summer.

How to get there

In winter, when the Lena River freezes, you can get to the Lena Pillars by car straight from the city of Yakutsk. To do this, you need to go towards the city of Pokrovsk to the village of Batamai (200 km), and there, along the winter road, cross the Lena River all the way to the park. When the winter road officially opens, you can also get to the natural park by small car.

In the summer, because of the Lena River, it will not be possible to get to the reserve itself. Those who like to travel wild can drive their car to the village of Elanka (150 km), leave the car in a paid parking lot, order motor boat and swim the remaining 50 km along the Lena River.

If you are in another region of Russia, then you can take advantage of various tours. It is best to fly from Moscow to Yakutsk by plane, and the flight duration will be approximately 7 hours.

Usually on ships that go to Lena Pillars Park there is a library, board games, karaoke, a cinema hall and even a sauna. You can refresh yourself in the restaurant, which serves quite familiar and tasty dishes.

Excursion

If you decide to visit Lena Pillars Natural Park, then we definitely recommend taking a tour. The cost of the excursion is not that high, in 2017 it was 350 rubles per person, but a friendly guide will take you on an entertaining excursion and tell you in detail the whole history and facts of the Lena Pillars.

Upon arrival at the Lena Pillars National Natural Park, you should try to do the following:

climb to the top of the cliff and see the nature of Yakutia from a 200-meter height;
meet at least one sunrise on the banks of the Lena in an ordinary tent;
swim in the waters of the great Lena (in summer the water temperature rises to +17 degrees);
be sure to visit the site of ancient people in the Lena Pillars Park - Dirin-Yuryakh;
study ancient inscriptions on the Pillars;
take a walk through the sand dunes, which live their own lives and are almost completely devoid of vegetation;
visit the caves of the Lena Pillars;
catch a fish.

You will remember such a vacation for a long time. On the territory of the Lena Pillars Park there are still no hotels, entertainment centers, so you can still enjoy unity with nature there.

Video

We suggest you take a look The best video about Lena Pillars, which became a hit last season:

Photo

No matter how well the photos of the Lena Pillars are taken, they still will not be able to fully convey all the greatness and excitement that a person experiences at the sight of the stone giants. But, as they say, seeing once is worth hearing a hundred times.

The Lena Pillars are a fantastic erosional landform: a forty-kilometer-long “fence” of vertically elongated rock outcrops. The pillars stand along the right bank of the Siberian river, below the confluence of the Sinaya River with the Lena - where the Lena cuts through the Lena Plateau with a deep valley. The pillars are most densely lined up like a palisade in the area between the city of Olekminsk and the village of Pavlovsk: the base of the rocks goes straight into river water. The pillars are separated from each other by deep and steep crevices, partially filled with rock fragments.
The average height of the Lena Pillars reaches 220 m above 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.
The Lena Pillars are located within the boundaries of the tectonic Siberian Platform. About half a million years ago, as a result of tectonic processes, faults formed here, in which river beds began to emerge, and subsequently deep river valleys, which caused the development of karst processes (washing out of limestone rock). Together with severe erosional weathering and a significant amplitude of annual temperatures (up to 100°C: from -60°C in winter to +40°C in summer), it formed a unique configuration of the 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 variety of colors of the Lena Pillars rocks, in which red sandstone is interspersed with light gray limestone.
Lena pillars today - sacred place for the Yakuts and Evenks. In the old days, only shamans could come here; ordinary people were 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.
Natural Park Lena Pillars was organized by decree of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 1994 and by decree of the Russian government in 1995. Currently, it is subordinate to the Yakut Ministry of Nature Conservation. The documents of the park indicate that its main task is the development of eco-tourism.
In addition to the Lena Pillars, the park contains three more valuable natural objects: the Sinsky Pillars, the Buotam Pillars and the Tukulan sands - Samye Kumaga and Kysyl Elesin.
The tuculan sand zone, up to 5 km long, also includes separate sections of the cold northern sandy desert. There are also areas of permafrost with unique flora and fauna.
Proof that Stone Age people lived here - inhabitants of the banks of the Lena - is the site of an ancient man at the mouth of the Diring-Yuryakh stream, belonging to the Ymyyakhtakh culture and the Diring Paleolithic culture. The age of the latter caused fierce debate among archaeologists around the world.
Also in the area of the park, fossilized remains of representatives of ancient fauna were discovered: mammoth, bison, woolly rhinoceros.
Representatives of modern fauna living in the Lena Pillars area include musk deer, wapiti, northern pika, sable, brown bear, elk, and roe deer. Within the Lena area, which is part of the park, there are Siberian lamprey, Siberian sturgeon, taimen, East Siberian lenok, tugun, whitefish, pyzhyan, valek, East Siberian grayling, nelma, Siberian vendace, omul, muksun. Among the birds there are protected species of world significance: kpoktung, osprey, golden eagle and peregrine falcon.
Due 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 - Pokrovsk, 200 km - Yakutsk.

Area of the Lena Pillars Natural Park: 4.85 km 2 .

Climate and weather

Sharply 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 precipitation: 320 mm.

Relative humidity: 70%.

Attractions

■ Natural: Lena Pillars geological complex, Lena Pillars natural park (including Lena, Buotam and Sinsk pillars, sand dunes tukulans, permafrost ecosystems, forest bison nursery "Bisonorium"), Nozdrevataya cave.
■ Historical: petroglyphs - rock paintings of animals, the site of the ancient man Diring-Yuryakh (and thousand BC).

Curious facts

■ In Siberia, picturesque rocky peaks, outcrops, and ridges of columnar-shaped outcrops formed as a result of weathering of crystalline rocks have long been called pillars. In addition to the Lena Pillars, the Nizhneudinsk and Krasnoyarsk Pillars are also known.
■ The name of the large blowing sand massifs of tukulans comes from the Evenki “tukala” - sand. Accordingly, “tukalan” is a sand massif or dune.
■ Abroad, geological formations similar to the Lena Pillars are the multi-colored pillars of the Monument Valley along the border of the American states of Arizona and Utah, as well as columnar forms Grand Canyon in Arizona and Stone forest Shilin in China.
■ In the area of excavations in 1982 at the site of the Neolithic burial of the Ymyyakhtakh culture of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Stone tools from the Deering culture were discovered, which were originally dated to 2-3 million years ago. But, if this is so, then man appeared in Siberia earlier than in North Africa- recognized by archaeologists as the ancestral home of Homo habilis (handy man). Subsequent analysis showed that the age of the Deering culture is 260-370 thousand years. This indicated that man had colonized the banks of the Lena already in the Lower Paleolithic and could potentially have penetrated from here to Beringia and from there to America. True, some scientists argue that the artifacts of this culture are not tools, but natural formations, that is, just stones.

The beauty of the Lena Pillars is both majestic and somewhat gloomy. That is why the stories of local peoples about this landscape mostly have a dramatic ending.

HALF A MILLION YEARS B.C.

It was then that this peculiar stone “fence” began to take shape, placed by nature itself along the banks of the Lena, which over time turned into a complex geological formation and one of the wonders of nature.

The average height of the Lena Pillars reaches 220 m above 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 a shallow and warm sea that once existed here. The Lena Pillars themselves were formed much later - “only” about 400 thousand years ago.

The Lena Pillars are located within the boundaries of the tectonic Siberian Platform. About half a million years ago, as a result of tectonic processes, faults formed here, in which river beds began to emerge, and subsequently deep river valleys, which caused the development of karst processes (washing out of limestone rock). Together with severe erosional weathering and a significant amplitude of annual temperatures (up to 100°C: from -60°C in winter to +40°C in summer), it formed a unique configuration of the 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 variety of colors of the Lena Pillars rocks, in which red sandstone is interspersed with light gray limestone.

Lena Pillars are still a sacred place for the Yakuts and Evenks today. In the old days, only shamans could come here; ordinary people were afraid of the spirits of the rocks, considering the pillars to be petrified people.

NATURAL PARK

Lena Pillars is also a natural park, organized in 1995 and subordinate to the Yakut Ministry of Nature Protection.

The Lena Pillars Natural Park was organized by a decree of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 1994 and a decree of the Russian government in 1995. Currently, it is subordinate to the Yakut Ministry of Nature Conservation. The documents of the park indicate that its main task is the development of eco-tourism.

In addition to the Lena Pillars, the park contains three more valuable natural objects: the Sinsky Pillars, the Buotam Pillars and the Tukulan Sands - Samye Kumaga and Kysyl Elesin.

The tuculan sand zone, up to 5 km long, also includes separate sections of the cold northern sandy desert. There are also areas of permafrost with unique flora and fauna.

Proof that Stone Age people lived here - inhabitants of the banks of the Lena - is the site of an ancient man at the mouth of the Diring-Yuryakh stream, belonging to the Ymyyakhtakh culture and the Diring Paleolithic culture. The age of the latter caused fierce debate among archaeologists around the world. Also in the area of the park, fossilized remains of representatives of ancient fauna were discovered: mammoth, bison, woolly rhinoceros.

Representatives of modern fauna living in the Lena Pillars area include musk deer, wapiti, northern pika, sable, brown bear, elk, and roe deer. Within the Lena area, which is part of the park, there are Siberian lamprey, Siberian sturgeon, taimen, East Siberian lenok, tugun, whitefish, pyzhyan, valek, East Siberian grayling, nelma, Siberian vendace, omul, muksun. Among the birds there are protected species of world significance: the kloktun, osprey, golden eagle and peregrine falcon.

Due to its natural criteria, the Lena Pillars were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012.

ATTRACTIONS

Natural:

■ Geological complex Lena Pillars.

■ Lena Pillars Natural Park (including Lena, Buotam and Sinsk Pillars, Tukulan sand dunes, permafrost ecosystems, forest bison nursery “Bizonorium”).

■ Nozdrevataya Cave.

Historical:

■ Petroglyphs - rock paintings of animals.

■ The site of the ancient man Diring-Yuryakh (2nd millennium BC).

■ The name of the large blowing sand massifs of tukulans comes from the Evenk “tukala” - sand. Accordingly, “tukalan” is a sand massif or dune.

■ Abroad, geological formations similar to the Lena Pillars are the multi-colored pillars of the Monument Valley along the border of the American states of Arizona and Utah, as well as the columnar forms of the Grand Canyon in Arizona and the Shilin Stone Forest in China.

■ In the area of excavations in 1982 at the site of the Neolithic burial of the Ymyyakhtakh culture of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Stone tools of the Deering culture were discovered, which were originally dated to 2-3 million years ago. But, if this is so, then man appeared in Siberia earlier than in North Africa - recognized by archaeologists as the ancestral home of Homo habilis (homo habilis). Subsequent analysis showed that the age of the Deering culture is 260-370 thousand years. This indicated that man had colonized the banks of the Lena already in the Lower Paleolithic and could potentially have penetrated from here to Beringia and from there to America. True, some scientists argue that the artifacts of this culture are not tools, but natural formations, that is, just stones.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Location: central Yakutia, .
Origin: the result of water and wind erosion, as well as a significant annual temperature range.
The Lena Pillars Natural Park was founded in 1995.
Administrative affiliation: Khangalassky ulus, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russian Federation.
Immediate settlements: Yakutsk - 299,169 people. (2015), Pokrovsk - 9047 people. (2015). 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 - Pokrovsk, 200 km - Yakutsk.
Area of the Lena Pillars Natural Park: 4.85 km 2 .

CLIMATE

Sharply continental.
Winters are long and harsh, summers are warm, often hot, but short.
Average January temperature: -39°C.
Average July temperature: +18.5°C.
Average annual precipitation: 320 mm.