The needles of Tabarka

The Needles of Tabarka constitute one of the tourist attractions in the landscape of the region.

In Tabarka, at this extreme north-western tip of Tunisia and not far from the Algerian border.

On the geomorphological level, these “needles” correspond to salient vertical reliefs which are formed by a succession of massive coarse sandstone bars, of about ten meters each and which are separated by relatively softer clay valleys.

These sandstone protrusions, which are sculpted into steep cliffs, can reach 25 m in altitude. These sandstone reliefs which are subjected to the simultaneous actions of rainfall and wind factors, thus creating real arched structures, under which visitors can walk, taking the winding path that runs along the coast.

Made up of Oligocene sandstone, rich in iron, it is erosion that has sculpted these extravagant shapes of reddish color forming spurs. By car, you can get there in 2 minutes. We park in the parking lot and we admire. It is calm, peaceful and very beautiful.

On the geological level, this succession of levels straightened vertically, in a North-South direction, are the result of differential erosion by salty winds and storms coming from the sea, sandstones and clays of Kroumirie, term median of the allochthonous Numidian unit.

These cliffs, which form the backbone of the region’s coastline, extend over more than 6 km along the coast from the old port of Tabarka to the border post of Malloula, with a total thickness of about of 2,000 m.