The Demoiselles Coiffées de Pontis is a rock formation in Pontis

Pontis, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Pontis is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France.-Population:-References:*...

, near Embrun

Embrun

Embrun may refer to:* Embrun, Hautes-Alpes, a town and former archbishopric in southeastern France** Embrun Cathedral, the national monument and former cathedral there* Embrun, Ontario, a community in eastern Ontario, Canada...

 in the French Alps

French Alps

The French Alps are those portions of the Alps mountain range which stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions....

, located on the edge of the Lac de Serre-Ponçon

Lac de Serre-Ponçon

Lake Serre-Ponçon is a lake in southeast France; it is one of the largest artificial lakes in western Europe. The lake gathers the waters of the Durance and the Ubaye rivers, flowing down through the Hautes-Alpes and the Alpes du Sud to the Rhône River...

. The formation consists of a number of hoodoos

Hoodoo (geology)

A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements...

, described as a "set of narrowly-tapered rock columns....topped with a large rock balanced neatly on the tip." In French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, such structures are referred to as Demoiselles Coiffées ("ladies with hairdos").

It is one of the best-known and most attractive examples in France of the structure; an earlier commentator referred to them as "some fifty bizarre columns with hairdos."