Stop #2 Mushroom RockLocation: N 34° 22’08.2” W 85° 40’ 29.2”

Mushroom Rock is a hoodoo. It is a giant pillar of rock sculpted by the infamous artist E. Rosion, and it proudly sits smack dab in the middle of a two lane country road, tucked in nicely behind a really sharp curve, patiently waiting for careless drivers who attempt the curve too fast.

This stone cold killer is just a small part of a surrounding rock outcrop that stands in some places more than 15 feet above the soil. Mushroom Rock is a sedimentary rock formation, the sandstone cap rock being more resistant to the water erosion that slowly weathered away the bottom, softer layers.

Fig 2.1 Mushroom Rock. (Left)Fig 2.3 Adjacent rock outcrops show similar water erosion effect. (Below)Pictures by Russ Hendricks

The vegetation found around Mushroom Rock is mostly hardwood forests, with stunted pines intermixing in the areas closer to the canyon rim. The soil along the canyon side of the rock outcrop is very shallow, making the vegetation most likely second growth trees. Nearby, right at the canyon rim, there is an exposed rock floor area that has created a bog populated with the federally endangered green Pitcher plant, a carnivorous plant known to exist only in northern regions of Alabama and Georgia.

Question: What is a geological term for a large pillar of rock formed by erosion?

Fig 2.3 Sparse hardwoods surrounding rock outcrop (Left) Photo by Russ HendricksFig 2.4 Green Pitcher Plant (Above) Photo courtesy of Dr. Robert Carter, JSU