Shartash Stone Tents Rocks, Rock formation in Yekaterinburg, Russia

Shartash Stone Tents Rocks are a protected natural monument in Yekaterinburg's Kirovsky district, near Lake Shartash. The granite outcrops form mattress-like slabs stacked in layers, created by wind, water and temperature over a 300-million-year-old Shartash granite massif. The rocks run 80–100 m north to south, rise 10–20 m, and reach 299 m above sea level, 24 m above the lake. The site covers 2 hectares, with a pine forest at the foot and a granite amphitheatre north of the outcrops.

The granite of the Shartash massif is about 300 million years old; the stacked slab shapes come from weathering and erosion, not volcanic eruption. In 1889 the hunter and gold prospector N. A. Ryzhnikov dug up pottery shards, stone tools and weapons by the rocks. Onisim Kler published the first written account in 1896, wrongly guessing the rocks were man-made. In 1915 quarrying for granite began nearby and was stopped through Kler and the Ural Society of Natural Science Lovers.

The name "stone tents" comes from the mattress-like slabs stacked in layers, a form locals also call "mattress-shaped" granite. Between 1905 and 1917 the rocks hosted May Day gatherings and workers' meetings where Bolshevik leader Yakov Sverdlov spoke, and a memorial plaque once marked this. A granite amphitheatre north of the outcrops now serves as a venue for city events.

The site sits on the eastern side of Yekaterinburg and can be reached on foot or by public transit from the city center. The paths work in any season, but dry weather makes it easier to walk around the rocks safely, especially on the steeper sections.

Although the rocks sit inside a large city, they hold the status of a federal cultural heritage site in Russia, which is unusual for a natural rock formation. This recognition reflects the archaeological value of the site, not just its geological character.