It IS quite amazing how the weathering of that stone is so unique to the 'wild west' and the USA,one would expect perhaps Australia,or other continents to have similar,but no....

I think this particular upturned stone is mostly unique to this area, but I could be wrong lol. Nevada is known for its rare minerals and uncommon Jurassic-era rock formations. You might check out the "Geologic history" of the area on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Nevada_(U.S.) as it is most interesting! You will have to add that last ) as the page doesn't link without it lol.

These particular rocks are similar to "minarets", which are a series of jagged peaks located in the Ritter Range (a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada Mountains) and also belong to the Carson Range (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carson_Range), only they have been sanded smoothed by the high winds over the ridge from Tahoe. Same thing as the link above: You will need to add that last ) as the page doesn't link without it.

....I live just north of where they took the image shown on that last link. 

I have seen similar formation, more concentrated in Cappodocia in Central Turkey, it was an area I flew over in 1981, looked amazing from the air, so I put it on the list, six years later I got there, people carved out dwellings in that area, one day I will find the photo album and scan some shots in the meantime
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=cappadocia&newwindow=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=zArCUtnTKqS4iQeHlYDYDA&ved=0CEoQsAQ&biw=1527&bih=749

But Turkey's are big enough to live in!

and good enough yo eat