page_title: Balancing rock
section_title: North America
hierarchical_section_title: Balancing rock / Famous balancing rocks / North America
caption_attribution_description: English: Balanced Rock at Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
context_page_description: A balancing rock, also called a balanced rock or precarious boulder, is a naturally occurring geological formation featuring a large rock or boulder, sometimes of substantial size, resting on other rocks, bedrock, or on glacial till. Some formations known by this name only appear to be balancing, but are in fact firmly connected to a base rock by a pedestal or stem. No single scientific definition of the term exists, and it has been applied to a variety of rock features that fall into one of four general categories:
  A glacial erratic is a boulder that was transported and deposited by glaciers or ice rafts to a resting place on soil, on bedrock, or on other boulders. It usually has a different lithology from the other rocks around it. Not all glacial erractics are balancing rocks; some are firmly seated on the ground. Some balancing erractics have come to be known as rocking stones, also known as logan rocks, logan stones, or logans, because they are so finely balanced that the application of just a small force may cause them to rock or sway. A good example of a rocking stone is the Logan Rock in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom; another is the Trembling Rock in Brittany, France.
context_section_description: Canada
  Nova Scotia
  A tall basalt stack appears to balance precariously above the water near Digby, Nova Scotia.
  British Columbia
  Located near Bear Beach on the Juan De Fuca Trail, this solid rock is perched upon eroded sandstone.
  United States
  Arizona
  Several pedestal rocks are found within the boundaries of the Chiricahua National Monument, and two are easily accessible in Marble Canyon, between Navajo Bridge and Lee's Ferry.
  California
  A large balancing rock may be easily seen at D.L. Bliss State Park on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.
  Colorado
  A huge sandstone boulder hangs precariously near the roadway in Garden of the Gods park near Colorado Springs.
  Maine
  A glacial erratic rests on the edge of a precipice on a mountain in Acadia National Park.
  Massachusetts
  In Balance Rock Park, in Pittsfield State Forest, a field of massive boulders left on a hillside by receding glaciers is crowned by Balance Rock, a tremendous rock balancing almost unbelievably upon a smaller rock protruding from the ground.
  New Mexico
  Several sites around the state, including the Bisti Badlands, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, the Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wilderness, Chaco Canyon National Park, Red Rock State Park, and in private and BLM public lands throughout New Mexico .
  New York
  Balanced Rock in North Salem, in Westchester County, NY. A glacial erratic that rests securely on five other rocks pointing upright, the Balanced Rock itself is a heavily weathered pink granite that is not local to the area, and is in fact found further north in the Hudson Highlands.
  North Carolina
  The Devil's Head is a large boulder perched on the ledge of a cliff in the Chimney Rock State Park, North Carolina.
  Texas
  Balanced Rock (also called Window Rock) is a large boulder suspended between two pedestals in the Grapevine Hills of Big Bend National Park.
  Utah
  One of the most visited formations in the United States is the Balanced Rock in Arches National Park.
  Washington
  A large glacial erratic is at the south end of Omak Lake in Okanogan County, known as the Omak Rock.
  Wisconsin
  Located in Devil's Lake State Park. A big rock near the top of a trail with the same name with a view on the lake.
  Idaho
  A balanced rock is located South of Buhl in the Salmon Falls Creek Canyon.
  Mexico
  Zacatecas
  At Sierra de Organos National Park in the municipality of Sombrerete there are two balancing rocks near to each other.
caption: Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado
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