Stone Mushrooms in the Akkurum site are one of the most famous sights of the Altay Mountains. They are located in the Valley of the Chulyshman River. Thousands of tourists come here every year to see this miracle of nature. Akkurum in translation from the languages of local peoples means "White scree". Here the Chulyshman River makes a very beautiful bend among the picturesque mountains. On the slope of one of the mountains there are famous Stone Mushrooms.
The formation of stone mushrooms is identical in all regions of the world. The most famous Stone Mushrooms are located in Cappadocia (Turkey). The same mushrooms are in the USA, Egypt, Argentina. For each country, such sights are a unique phenomenon.
Approximately 150 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period, soft layers of rock called tuff were formed at the bottom of prehistoric seas. It contains a large number of amphibian skeletons. About 50 million years ago, the prehistoric oceans and seas retreated. During this period, active volcanic eruptions occurred, which formed a layer of hard stones (most often basalt) on top of the Cretaceous rock.
For millions of years, under the influence of water and wind, the soft cretaceous rock (tuff) was destroyed. This happens even today, but such changes are invisible to the human eye. Basalt stones became a "roof" for soft rock, and tuff was destroyed on the sides. So there appeared "mushroom legs", which eventually become larger. The height of some stone mushrooms in the Altay reaches 8 meters.
Earthquakes are a big problem for stone mushrooms. The bases under the "hats" are usually narrower than the legs themselves. During an earthquake, they are easily destroyed. One of these earthquakes occurred in the Altay in 2003, as a result, several hats on small mushrooms fell.
An individual visit to Stone Mushrooms is possible, but you need to cross the Chulyshman River. There are several campsites at the foot of the mountain where the Mushrooms are located. All of them offer services for crossing river by motor boat to the other shore. It is impossible to ford the river. The path from the river bank to the Stone Mushrooms goes uphill. The climb is 220 meters. The distance from the shore to the mushrooms is 1 kilometer.
