The area is often referred to as Dinosaur Valley because of the abundance of fossils found in the area, beginning in the late 1800s. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River Valley in the badlands of Alberta is approximately 1.2 miles (2 km) wide and 17 miles (27.3 km) long. The stones formed as the seabed rose rapidly out of the ocean during the Miocene period. The hoodoo stones on the northern coast of Taiwan are unusual for their coastal setting. The site is called Đavolja Varoš (Devil's Town) and since 1959 has been protected by the state and nominated in the New Seven Wonders of Nature campaign.ĭevil's Town, near Kuršumlija, Serbia ( Nikolic / CC BY-SA 3.0 ) Serbia has about 200 formations described as earth pyramids or towers by local inhabitants. Hoodoos ( peribacası) houses have been carved into the formations found in the Cappadocia region of Turkey and were depicted on the reverse of a Turkish banknote. Several are found in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France and one of the most famous examples is the formation called ‘ Demoiselles Coiffées de Pontis ’ since hoodoos in French are called ‘ladies with hairdos’ ( demoiselles coiffées) or cheminées de fees which translates to ‘fairy chimneys’. Hoodoos are also prominent a few hundred miles away at Goblin Valley State Park on the eastern side of the San Rafael Swell as well as other parts of the world.

Hoodoos, not unique to Alberta, Canada or the North American continent, are commonly found on the Colorado Plateau and abundant in the northern section of Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. In common usage, the difference between hoodoos and pinnacles (or spires) is that hoodoos have a variable thickness while spires, have a smoother profile or uniform thickness that taper upward from the ground. Hoodoos are found mainly in the desert in hot, dry areas and smaller versions of these sandstone giants can be found all over the Badlands. The sandstone structures will ultimately be worn away and break, and the harder top rock will eventually come crashing down. The cap rock slows the process of complete erosion by keeping them from disintegrating at the same speed as the surrounding sandstone. They’re formed from soft sandstone, and most are capped with a harder rock which sits on top like a hat. These hoodoos (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney or earth pyramid) have been carved over millions of years into pillar-like shapes. Today we know the rocks were created by erosion, shaped by wind and water. A legend of the Paiute Indians, who inhabited the area for hundreds of years before the arrival of European Americans, claims the colorful hoodoos are ancient people who were turned to stone as punishment for bad deeds. According to Blackfoot and Cree traditions, these rocks are petrified giants who come alive at night to protect their land by throwing stones at trespassers.

In the badlands of Alberta, Canada, unusually shaped rock-formations which rise to 20 feet tall, grace the landscape.

Anomolies near the badlands guardian