I Can’t Unsee It (11 Photos)

October 27, 2026

By Vidar

Rocks that look like something else

Nobody shaped the faces, animals and odd objects below on purpose. Water, ice and time did the work, in national parks, on a Kansas prairie and on the coast of Iceland. The rest happens in your head. Seeing faces in objects is called face pareidolia, and the brain is built to see a face rather than miss one. Once you see the skull, you can’t unsee it.

More: I Had to Look Twice (9 Photos)

🐘 Elephant Rock — Heimaey, Westman Islands, Iceland 🇮🇸

The eye, the forehead and a trunk dipping into the North Atlantic, on the coast of Heimaey. The cliff is made of basalt, volcanic rock that forms when lava cools and hardens.

💡 Island Fact: On January 23, 1973, a volcano erupted on Heimaey without warning, and all of its roughly 5,000 residents were evacuated, most of them on fishing boats. For a view like this one, you have to go by boat.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsElephant Rock (Fíllinn)Natural rock formation · Heimaey, Westman Islands, IcelandBasalt sea cliffHeimaeyWestman Islands1Visit Vestmannaeyjar identifies Fíllinn as a sea cliff forming part of Dalfell.visitvestmannaeyjar.is2According to Perlan, viewing the cliff from the sea gives the clearest impression of its elephant-like profile.perlan.is201417 AugPhoto takenRead the full file →

📷 Photo and cover crop: Diego Delso, delso.photo / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🍄 Mushroom Rock State Park — Ellsworth County, Kansas, USA 🇺🇸

A dark cap on a pale stem, in a prairie field in Ellsworth County. Each cap is a hard lump called a concretion. The softer Dakota sandstone around it eroded away and left the hard part standing on a stalk.

💡 Park Fact: At 5 acres, this is the smallest state park in Kansas, and its largest rock measures 27 feet across. The rocks were meeting places and landmarks for Native Americans and early pioneers.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsMushroom Rock State ParkNatural rock formation · Ellsworth County, Kansas, USADakota sandstoneConcretionsEllsworth County1The Kansas Geological Survey says softer sandstone stems eroded faster than the harder concretion caps above them.kgs.ku.edu2The sandstone formed from sediments deposited beside a Cretaceous sea about 100 million years ago, according to the Kansas Geological Survey.geokansas.ku.edu1997Featured in KGS GeoRecord, Winter 1997200619 AprPhoto uploaded201627 AugPhoto taken202126 AprMoonrise photo takenRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Nationalparks at English Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

🌊 Wave Rock — Hyden, Western Australia, Australia 🇦🇺

A wave that never breaks, in the farmland near Hyden in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt. The granite wall is 15 meters high and 110 meters long, rounded by weathering and water that undercut its base and left a curved overhang.

💡 Record Fact: Guinness World Records lists Wave Rock as the largest flared slope, on the north face of Hyden Rock. The granite itself has been estimated at about 2.7 billion years old.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsWave RockNatural rock formation · Hyden, Western Australia, AustraliaGraniteHyden Rock110 m long1Wave Rock is the curved northern face of Hyden Rock in Western Australia, according to the Australian Museum.australian.museum2Guinness lists Wave Rock as the largest flared slope, measuring 110 metres long.guinnessworldrecords.com20188 JanPhoto taken202521 OctAustralian Museum page updatedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: SKY-PuLeun / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🐘 Elephant Rock — Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USA 🇺🇸

The second elephant here is red and has its trunk on the ground. It stands by the parking lot at the east end of Valley of Fire State Park, northeast of Las Vegas.

💡 Dune Fact: It is Aztec Sandstone, desert sand dunes that turned to stone about 180 to 190 million years ago.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsElephant RockNatural rock formation · Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada, USAAztec SandstoneValley of FireNatural arch1James St. John identifies Elephant Rock as Aztec Sandstone, deposited long ago as wind-blown desert dunes.flickr.com2Nevada State Parks prohibits climbing on Elephant Rock.parks.nv.gov20106 JulPhoto taken20191 JanFirst Day Hike listed at Elephant RockRead the full file →

📷 Photo and cover crop: “Elephant Rock (Aztec Sandstone, Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic; Valley of Fire, Nevada, USA) 5” by James St. John / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

👴 Old Man of the Mountain — Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, USA 🇺🇸

A frowning face in profile, made of five granite ledges, 40 feet from forehead to chin, high on Cannon Cliff above Franconia Notch. This photo was taken on April 26, 2003. One week later, on May 3, 2003, the Old Man collapsed.

💡 Repair Fact: People tried hard to keep him. Repairs in 1957 used 20 tons of cement, steel rods, turnbuckles and a gutter. Since 2011, steel “profilers” at Profile Plaza line up to put the face back in the sky.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsOld Man of the MountainNatural rock formation · Franconia Notch, New Hampshire, USAConway GraniteCannon MountainState emblem1Five granite ledges on Cannon Mountain aligned to form the profile, according to the Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Fund.oldmannh.org2According to the New England Historical Society, preservation repairs used cement, steel rods and turnbuckles to reinforce the ledges.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com200326 AprPhoto taken a week before the collapse20033 MayCollapse date given by the Legacy FundRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Jeffrey Joseph / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

🐫 Kissing Camels — Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA 🇺🇸

Two humps, two heads, lips touching, and a window of sky where their necks meet: these are the Kissing Camels, on top of a red ridge at Garden of the Gods.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsKissing CamelsNatural rock formation · Colorado Springs, Colorado, USALyons sandstoneGarden of the GodsNorth Gateway Rock1According to EPOD, the camels sit on North Gateway Rock, a tilted fin of Lyons Formation sandstone.epod.usra.edu2Photographer James St. John describes the small natural arch at the top of the sandstone wall as a window.commons.wikimedia.org200727 JulPhoto taken201725 JanDenver Gazette feature20237 OctPhoto taken (EPOD)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: “Kissing Camels 5” by James St. John / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

🛌 Sleeping Giant — Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦

Look at it from Thunder Bay at dusk: a whole peninsula lying on its back in Lake Superior, like a giant asleep. It sits inside Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, and its cliffs are among the highest in Ontario.

💡 Legend Fact: In one Ojibwe legend, the giant is Nanabijou, turned to stone when the secret location of a rich silver mine was given away to white men. That mine is now known as Silver Islet.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSleeping GiantNatural rock formation · Thunder Bay, Ontario, CanadaSibley PeninsulaLake SuperiorProvincial park1From Thunder Bay, the Sibley Peninsula’s mesas resemble a person lying on their back, according to Northern Ontario Travel.northernontario.travel2Ontario Parks lists Sleeping Giant Provincial Park as established in 1944, covering 24,400 hectares.ontarioparks.ca1986AugPhoto taken201810 AugPhoto taken from Thunder Bay201916 JunPhoto taken over the harbour20264 MarHiking account published · Northern Ontario TravelRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Giorgio Galeotti / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

🦆 Duck on a Rock — Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USA 🇺🇸

A duck sitting on the rim, looking out over the Grand Canyon from an unsigned viewpoint on Desert View Drive, just east of Yaki Point.

💡 Bill Fact: The name used to fit better. According to the National Park Service, erosion wore off the duck’s bill long ago.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDuck on a RockNatural rock formation · Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USAKaibab formationDesert View DriveSouth Rim1The National Park Service says erosion removed the formation’s duck-like bill long ago.nps.gov2NPS lists the Duck on a Rock viewpoint at mile marker 246 and an elevation of 7,096 feet.nps.gov201523 SepPhoto taken20211 OctNPS place page updated202223 JunNPS photo from the viewpoint202621 OctNPS drive guide updated (not a camera date)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: “Duck on a Rock, Grand Canyon 9-15” by Don Graham / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

🐕 Dog Rock — Albany, Western Australia, Australia 🇦🇺

A jutting snout, ear-like ridge and painted black-and-white collar turn this roadside granite boulder into a dog’s head at a glance. It sits at a bend of Middleton Road in Albany.

💡 Name Fact: Its official name is Yakkan Toort/Dog Rock; the local Menang Noongar people know it as Yacka, “wild dog tamed.” The collar was painted on after the Royal Automobile Club called the rock a danger to traffic in 1938.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsYakkan Toort / Dog RockNatural rock formation · Albany, Western Australia, AustraliaGranite outcropAlbany, WAPainted collar1The Albany Advertiser reports that protests stopped a 1921 council proposal to blow up the rock to widen Middleton Road.albanyadvertiser.com.au2The heritage record describes painted reflector blocks that resemble a collar and improve visibility on the road bend.inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au202010 SepAlbany Advertiser on Dog Rock legends202621 JanAlbany Advertiser history feature202621 SepPhoto takenRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Aliceinthealice / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)

💀 Skull Rock — Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA 🇺🇸

Two empty eye sockets, a nose and a big bald forehead, right beside Park Boulevard just east of Jumbo Rocks Campground. It wasn’t carved: over many millennia, water drops slowly eroded the two holes. It is a short walk from the parking area.

💡 Rock Fact: The boulder piles around it formed underground. The park’s rock is a granite called monzogranite, rounded over time by groundwater seeping along its cracks.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSkull RockNatural rock formation · Joshua Tree National Park, California, USANatural graniteJoshua Tree NPTafoni1According to the National Park Service, rainwater gradually enlarged hollows in the granite into two eye sockets.nps.gov2The park identifies Skull Rock’s eye sockets and nose as examples of tafoni, cavities created by weathering.nps.gov201712 DecNPS page on how Skull Rock formed20194 JulPhoto taken202112 MarNPS place page updated202511 JanPhoto takenRead the full file →

📷 Photo: డా. గన్నవరపు నరసింహమూర్తి / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

🥾 The Giant’s Boot — Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK 🇬🇧

A stone boot big enough for a giant, sitting on the basalt shore at the Giant’s Causeway. The legend has an owner for it: the giant Finn McCool reputedly lost it during his rivalry with the Scottish giant Benandonner.

💡 Bay Fact: The boot lies in a bay that locals call Port Noffer, the “bay of the giant”.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe Giant’s BootNatural rock formation · Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UKBasaltPort NofferBlue Trail endpoint1National Trust places the legendary boot of Finn McCool at Port Noffer, the bay of the giant.nationaltrust.org.uk2The boot-shaped basalt boulder is weathered brown, according to Causeway Coastal Route.causewaycoastalroute.com19993 AprPhoto by Martin Melaugh (CAIN)200215 AugPhoto taken (Geograph)20031 AugPhoto taken (Geograph)200925 JulPhoto taken202220 MarClose-up of pennies in the bootRead the full file →