Credit: Ranger Rick magazine (National Wildlife Federation) / Leen van der Slik - Earth Scenes

I sometimes get a curiosity itch and I am wondering how many "faces" are seen in landforms. From my childhood I remember the "Sleeping Indian" mountain seen in the Colorado Rockies from the area of Walden, CO. As a child I tried to see the "sleeping indian" that the adults were talking about and, sure enough, found one. A couple of years later, I found out that what I had pegged as the Sleeping Indian was really Owl Mountain (Owl Mountain looks like the supine form, perhaps under a shroud after a brave death in battle, of an Indian Chief. You can trace the rise and fall of head, chest, and feet, and an extra lump that must be the warrior's weapons beneath the buffalo skin.) As it turned out, the real Sleeping Indian is just a head facing skyward, and you can see the profile of the face. Through binoculars the Sleeping Indian has an extra lip, but is still startlingly lifelike. I believe the name of the peaks is "the crags".

So now I am collecting "faces" seen in natural formations. (I am not the only one! See Matt Bergstrom's Stone Faces Gazetteer.)

1. One landmark is Nanabijou, the "sleeping giant" from Ojibway tradition. Nanabijou can be seen from the harbor of Thunder Bay, Ontario, resembling the body of a sleeping, 7-mile-long giant.

   This giant was once (legend has it) Nanabijou, the spirit of the deep sea. Long ago, Nanabijou entrusted a loyal tribe of Ojibway Indians with the secret location of a rich silver mine on Silver Islet. Nanabijou warned the Ojibway not to reveal the mine to the white men or he would be turned to stone and the tribe would perish. The rival Sioux nation, envious of the beautiful silver ornaments worn by the Ojibway, sent a scout to discover the mine's location. The scout was successful. Later, the Sioux took several silver pieces to the white traders and revealed the secret of Silver Islet. Immediately, a great storm broke over the land, turning Nanabijou to stone.

   
   

   Alternate picture
   Credit: Sleeping Giant Bottle Club

2. "The Great Stone Face," or "Stoneface" is located in Pennington Gap, Virginia. It is said to mark the entrance to Cherokee holy ground.
   
   

   Credit: Sarah W.

3. On the coconut coast of Hawaii lies the Sleeping Giant (Nounou Mountain) between Wailua and Kapaa that looks like the figure of a man. Legend has it that this was a pesky giant who ate constantly. The villagers of Wailua tricked him into eating a great number of rocks hidden in a vast quantity of fish and poi. The giant was so full that he lay down to nap, and has not (to date) awakened.
   

   Credit: Kauai Visitor Information

4. Sleeping Ute Mountain lies on the "Ute Mountain Ute Reservation" in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico. The mountain's angular crests fit together to form a sleeping man facing the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. In Ute tradition, the mountain is a grand warrior resting from battling against great evil that threatened the Utes. The 3-day Sun Dance is held every year on a sagebrush flat over the Sleeping Ute's heart. Visitors must have a Ute guide to visit the mountain. Most of the 9977-foot Sleeping Ute mountain is uplifted layers of sandstone and shale, but his toes are volcanic necks, lava that pushed through the shale and sandstone. In the picture below, his (or her) head is to the right, and folded arms, hips, knees, and toes stretch to the left.
   

   Credit: John Anderson

5. A "Sleeping Indian" near Jackson, Wyoming.
   

   Credit: Tad Brunye

6. Another "Sleeping Giant" is formed by the part of the Absaroka Range near Livingston, MT. Without late afternoon shadows it is hard to see the face.
   
   

   Credit: Terry G. Smart

7. The "Old Man of the Mountain:" In Franconia Notch, on the side of Cannon Mountain sat the Old Man of the Mountain. A natural stone formation, it was the symbol of the state of New Hampshire. Until 2003, many of the rocks were held in place with steel cables and turnbuckles. A rock climb on Cannon Cliffs goes right past the Stone Face site.
   New Hampshire's "Old Man of the Mountain"
   Folklore.
   Rock Fall!
   
   On May 3, 2003 or a day or two before, much of the "Old Man" fell off. Governor Craig Benson has said that the 40-foot profile should be restored, as it is New Hampshire's (the Granite State's) most recognizable symbol.
   

8. The Devil's Head of North Carolina, above Rocky Broad River.
   

   Credit

9. Mount Tamalpais, north of San Francisco, is said to resemble a sleeping indian maiden.
   

   Credit: Terry Marasco, www.tmarascoselections.com.

   
   

   Credit: Bill Jacobson. Pencil 1994. www.starhawk.com.

   
   Mount Tam on a bed headboard!

   Credit: www.tamalpais.com.

10. Man's Face Rock near Green River, WY.
    

    Credit: Larry Romero and the City of Green River

11. Profile Rock, about 2/3 of the way up Poudre Canyon, north of Fort Collins, CO.
    

    Credit: my own snapshot. (alt.)

12. Old Man of the Park, near Sundance, WY.
    

    Full Picture. Credit: John C. H. Grabill, photo taken between 1887 and 1892, Library of Congress

13. In Georgian Bay, near Beausoleil Island National Park, Ontario, Canada, there is an island called Giant's Tomb. According to native legend, Kitchi-Kiwana, the last of a race of giants, fell with a mountain in his arms. The mountain shattered into the 30,000 islands. The indentations of his shoulders can be seen on his favorite island, Beausoleil, where he returned to sleep each night. When he died, the natives covered him with rocks to form what is now called Giant's Tomb Island. The great god Manitou lights the fires of the northern lights to guide the spirit of Kitchi-Kawana whenever he visits the islands. (Thanks to: Nathan Wendel)
14. In the pages of Country Magazine I found a photo of Indian Head Rock, near Choteau, Montana. I am trying to find out why it is named "Indian Head Rock" (I sure can't see anything humanoid here).

15. Previously unnoticed face. Eagle Cap Wilderness Area, Oregon.
    

    Credit: Ted Werth

16. I don't know where this thing is, or if it's a fake (I suspect it's fake). I got it in one of those random, forwarded emails that your so-called "friends" forward to you, thinking that you will be interested. Anyway, do you see the cat? Anybody know if this is a real place?

17. Here's a bit of a different take: a satellite image of an area near Medicine Hat, Alberta. I think this is an awesome image!
    
    Area map.

    Credit: Tom Finnell

18. A rock in a temple near Yamagata, Japan.
    

    Credit: C. Tercero

19. Can anyone tell me about Sphinx Rock in Wastwater, England?
20. The Old Woman, found in France?
21. The Vartan Rock in Armenia?
22. How about a reclining woman seen in Mt. Ixtaccihuatl, Mexico?
    
    

    Credit: John Anderson

    
    Differential weathering of basaltic rock in Hawaii produced this remarkably recognizable profile of John F. Kennedy. It is located on Maui, in the Iao valley.

    (Thanks for the location information, Larry Henderson!)

The "face on Mars" is still occasionally mentioned, at least in the "Weekly World News" tabloid. Here's the basic story. In 1976, the Viking orbiter took a series of images of the Martian surface that were later combined and processed to yield the following image:

Or is there a face on Mars after all? Mars Global Surveyor also found the following suggestive image. Crater? Or cosmic happy face? You decide . . .

Other, random faces. These don't really count, as they aren't landforms! They are all organic in origin, in fact.

This is a frog butt.

These are from the Gingko Petrified Wood visitor's center: faces that appear in cut, polished sections of petrified wood. Dubbed "Moses" and "Girl" by the staff there.