Beli Plast Stone Mushrooms

Beside the road at Beli Plast north of Kardzhali stands a small group of rock formations that have weathered into mushroom shapes: pillars of softer volcanic tuff several metres high capped by wider discs of harder rhyolite that have protected the stone beneath, with the whole outcrop coloured in pinks, greys and greens from the mineral content. There are around ten of them in a small area on a slope above the road, walked in twenty minutes. They were declared a natural landmark in 1974. The eastern Rhodopes around them are dry, open and volcanic in character, quite different from the forested western half of the range, and the area holds a number of other rock formations and Thracian sites.

What you actually see

• Mushroom-shaped rock pillars - hard caps protecting softer stone beneath.
• Pink, grey and green colouring - the mineral banding in the volcanic rock.
• A roadside outcrop - the whole group in a small area.
• The eastern Rhodope landscape - dry volcanic country around them.

When to go

April to October. One hour, as a stop on the road between Kardzhali and Haskovo. Morning and late light bring out the colour. There is no shade.

Honest expectations

It is small and twenty minutes covers it. The formations are beside a busy road with a lay-by. There is no interpretation and no facilities. Litter around the site is a problem. Visitors expecting a large formation field will be surprised.

Nearby

Kardzhali is south; Perperikon lies east.