Beaches
Stone Stacking in the UK is predominantly undertaken on beaches. This is relatively easy for a country that is surrounded by oceans on every side. The beach locations present a huge wealth of different geology and can result in some incredible impossible looking stacks. These are the ideal location as the natural tide comes in and returns the stacks to their natural state.
The other advantage of stone stacking at beaches is finding natural sea glass which is ideal for collecting and using at home creating miniature stacks.
Rivers & Streams
The flow of water smooths the surface of rocks and many rivers and waterways have a bed of natural materials for stone stacking. This presents itself a different challenge as often the rocks are submerged and for large installations it is worth always returning the stones to natural state before leaving as to not disrupt the natural flow of the water.
Hills
Cairns are traditionally scattered across mountain and hill trails as landmarks or markers. Pathways are littered with stones which are easy to stack. It is imperative you do not disturb natural cairns as whilst they may no longer be in use they may have spiritual reasons for being in place.
Parks
Many parks are beginning to adopt natural stone areas which are purpose built to provide an area for temporary art structures. These park stone circles are akin to graffiti walls where the next user may come and utilise stones from an existing stack for their own. They are a great place to meet like minded individuals and also engage with passers by who may have never had a go at stone stacking themselves. If your local park doesn’t have a stone circle it may be worth commisioning or lobbying your local authority to install one, especially for those not near a seaside location.
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