Best Quartzite

Directissima is an iconic 5.9+ traditional rock climbing route in Yosemite Valley, notable for being an early and incredibly direct aid climbing line established in the 1960s.

Bonnie's Roof is a classic 5.9 traditional rock climb in the Shawangunks of New York, noted for its spectacular exposed roof and its historic first ascent by a female pioneer.

Shockley's Ceiling is a famous 5.6 traditional rock climbing route in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York, renowned for its dramatic and exposed overhanging roof traverse.

Madame G's is a quintessential 5.7 traditional rock climbing route in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York, celebrated for its incredibly aesthetic and continuous crack system.

The Jeffers Petroglyphs site in southwestern Minnesota preserves over 7,000 Native American rock carvings across a half-mile stretch of red Sioux quartzite. The carvings, made over a span of approximately 5,000 years, depict humans, atlatls, buffalo, deer, thunderbirds, and other figures associated...

Steptoe Butte is a quartzite landform in Whitman County, Washington, rising to about 3,612 feet above sea level and standing prominently above the surrounding Palouse farmland. It is a monadnock, meaning that its resistant rock remained after erosion lowered the surrounding terrain. Protected as a s...

Hole-in-the-Mountain Prairie Preserve is a tallgrass prairie reserve in southwestern Minnesota, United States, managed by The Nature Conservancy. It protects a tract of native grassland along the Buffalo Ridge in Lincoln County, supporting populations of prairie-dependent plants and grassland birds....

Mount Arapiles is a prominent rock formation near Natimuk in western Victoria, Australia, within Mount Arapiles-Tooan State Park. Its cliffs contain a dense concentration of established climbing routes across a wide range of grades, with an especially strong tradition of protection placed by climber...

The Bust of Thutmose III at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a fragmentary ancient Egyptian portrait sculpture carved from quartzite. It depicts the pharaoh Thutmose III of the 18th Dynasty, who ruled from approximately 1479 to 1425 BCE and is renowned for his extensive military campaigns that expa...

Housed in the British Museum, the Bust of Amenhotep III is a sculpted portrait of the pharaoh who presided over ancient Egypt during a period of unprecedented imperial wealth and power in the 18th Dynasty. Ruling from approximately 1388 to 1351 BCE, Amenhotep III was a prolific builder, and this art...

The Mazinaw Lake pictographs are Indigenous rock paintings located on the cliffs of Mazinaw Rock in Bon Echo Provincial Park, Ontario. More than 260 images have been recorded, including human figures, animals, canoes, and abstract forms painted with red ochre above the waterline. They are associated...

The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III that have stood on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor, Egypt, since approximately 1350 BCE. Each figure stands about 18 meters tall and was carved from blocks of quartzite to guard the entrance of the pharaoh's now-ruined m...

Kamiak Butte is a quartzite monadnock in Whitman County, Washington, rising to an elevation of about 3,641 feet above the surrounding Palouse. It is protected within Kamiak Butte County Park and supports forest habitat that contrasts with the region's predominantly agricultural landscape, including...

The Chambers Gorge petroglyphs are Aboriginal rock engravings located at Chambers Gorge in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. Carved and pecked motifs on exposed rock surfaces include tracks, circles, geometric forms, and figures associated with the region's Indigenous cultural landscape. They...

A group of four quartzite summits in Arizona's Mazatzal Mountains, with the highest point Brown's Peak reaching 2,571 m and prominently visible from the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Seneca Rocks is a prominent and jagged geological formation located in the Monongahela National Forest in eastern West Virginia, USA. The structure consists of vertical Tuscarora quartzite fins that rise sharply above the surrounding Appalachian landscape. Because the rock formation lacks extensive...

A 1,772-m peak in Minas Gerais, Brazil, near Ouro Preto, historically significant as a navigational landmark for Portuguese colonists approaching the region's gold deposits.

Yourambulla Caves is an Aboriginal rock art site near Hawker in South Australia's Flinders Ranges. Its rock shelters contain ochre paintings associated with the Adnyamathanha people, including human figures, animal tracks, and geometric forms. The site is culturally significant rather than a convent...

The Croaghaun Cliffs rise on the northern side of Croaghaun Mountain at the western end of Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland. Reaching approximately 688 metres above the Atlantic, they are Ireland's highest sea cliffs and among the highest in Europe, although much of their full face is difficult...

The Benwee Head Cliffs are sea cliffs located in County Mayo on the northwest coast of Ireland. Rising from the Atlantic Ocean, the cliffs are characterized by heavily folded and faulted quartzite and schist rock strata formed during ancient geological periods. They are situated along the Wild Atlan...

Tsodilo Hills is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northwestern Botswana consisting of four main quartzite hills rising dramatically from the Kalahari Desert. The site contains over 4,500 rock paintings spanning thousands of years, created by indigenous San peoples and later Bantu-speaking communities...

Located on Achill Island in County Mayo, Ireland, the Achill Head Cliffs are notable for marking the westernmost point of the island and feature dramatic, rugged sea stacks.

A Neolithic portal tomb in County Donegal, Ireland, notable for one of the largest capstones of any Irish dolmen, measuring roughly 4 m across.

Precipitous Bluff is a remote limestone cliff in Tasmania, Australia, distinguished by its sheer drops and the presence of deep, extensive cave systems that attract dedicated speleologists.

The Chimanimani Massif is a rugged mountain range straddling the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique, notable for its deep quartzite gorges and rich, endemic plant life.

Cerro Autana is a tepui rising about 1,300 m in Amazonas State, Venezuela, notable for a large cave tunnel penetrating its summit plateau and considered sacred by the Piaroa people.