"Canyons of Mars" - that's how the quarries located in Naujojai Akmene and still operating are often called. Minerals have been mined here for many decades. Steep and impressive cliffs almost 40 meters high, piles of larger and smaller stones.
Back in 1932 Limestone mining for lime production and the sugar industry began in Menčiai. Now part of the excavated quarry is flooded, artificial lakes are flowing, which wash the remaining limestone outcrops. The shores of the flooded lakes are abundantly covered with thickets of tall grass and shrubs. The common white-flowered sedge sometimes forms grasslands, blue-flowered vetch can be found in places, etc. Visitors to the quarry are stunned by a view reminiscent of the pink American Grand Canyon.
Menčiau quarry is a quarry pond in Lithuania, Akmenė district, 6 km south of Naujosija Akmenė. It was formed after the limestone was exploited and filled with water. The length of the pond is 0,67 km, the width is up to 0,44 km. There are 4 islands - 0,13 ha, 0,12 ha, 0,07 ha, and 0,03 ha. The shores are widely covered with trees and bushes. To the northwest is the Menčių II quarry, to the south - the Sablauskių pond, to the west - the village of Menčių. The road 1014 Alkiškiai–Menčiai–Pakalniškiai runs along the northern coast. The pond does not drain.
