Where is the stone river located? Big stone river. Unusual rivers of Taganay

Article text updated: 05/29/2018

Please note that this review of the attractions of Taganay Natural Park and weekend routes consists of two parts. So that you don’t get lost in the abundance of information, let me tell you: summary articles:

1. What is Taganay National Park?

This is a huge area of ​​taiga measuring approximately 70*20 kilometers, located on Southern Urals. Approximately, the territory of the park is limited to the cities of Miass, Zlatoust and Karabash, as well as the villages of Magnitka and Aleksandrovka. The lands in the park of the reserve belong to the Kusinsky district and the city of Zlatoust Chelyabinsk region.

You can get to the main attractions of the park from Magnitka, Karabash, Miass and Zlatoust. My friends and I went on a hike to Taganay from the checkpoint in Zlatoust, and my description of the routes is based precisely on the start from this point.

The wealth of the national park is its mountain ranges covered with impenetrable taiga: Big, Middle and Small Taganay, Ural and Small Ural, Big and Small Talovsky. On average, the height of the mountains is 1.0-1.1 kilometers above sea level. The highest peak is Mount Kruglitsa (height - 1178 meters); She submitted to us only the second time.

2. How to get to Taganay National Park

If you decide get to the reserve by car, you need to get to the city of Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk region. The entrance to the park is located at the exit to Magnitka. If we enter the city from Miass, then first the road goes along Griboyedov Street; turning right we get onto the street. Anosova. In general, the main goal is to get to the train station. From there there will be signs “Magnitka” (that’s the name of the village in the vicinity of Zlatoust). Anosova Street will stop after the station and turn sharply to the left. From there we turn onto the street. Sandy to the right and we approach a large tourist base, where, among other things, the administration house is located.

2. Driving directions through the territory of Zlatoust “How to get to the entrance to national park Taganay"

For those who have a navigator, I inform you GPS coordinates car parking and the beginning of the hiking route: 55.221214, 59.731699.

Here we left the car in a paid parking lot (60 rubles per day), registered with the Rescue Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and received a map of weekend hiking routes in the territory of the Taganay National Park.

You can go to Zlatoust go by train. Trains traveling from Chelyabinsk to Moscow and from Samara to Chelyabinsk stop at the local railway station. There are two routes from Yekaterinburg (the journey takes 7.5 hours).

From Chelyabinsk the train takes 2.5 hours, from Ufa – 6.5 hours, from Tyumen it will take 13 hours.

Getting to Taganay is quite convenient by bus. Minibuses depart from Chelyabinsk to Zlatoust every half hour, from 7:00 to 21:00, from the Northern Bus Station.

Perhaps my words will sound boring, but when we arrive at the park, we must remember that here is a real, remote Ural taiga. I don’t think that you can get lost on the routes that I will describe below, but before the hike you need to undergo certain preparation: find out the telephone numbers of the administration and rescue services (), take with you maps of the area, a navigator.

All trails on the two-day route are marked. But keep in mind that in the mountains of the Southern Urals in winter there is snow higher than human height - it’s easy to get into trouble if a snowstorm starts. In 2011, in the Zyuratkul National Park, a problem happened to our group: we climbed onto a ridge (height - 1175 meters), and there was a thunderstorm, rain, clouds touched the stones, nothing was visible at all. During the ascent, the last 100 meters are a steep slope, the path is not noticeable. We took a wrong turn and wandered for about half an hour through thickets of grass, which in the mountains at the end of July are also over your head - it’s impossible to navigate. When a slight panic was already beginning, we finally came out onto the path...

In Taganay National Park there are many areas with huge stones: all the peaks are covered with them. Please note that some boulders are movable and you can trip and get seriously injured. That is why the park administration encourages all tourists to register their groups with the Ministry of Emergency Situations!

The route I describe takes two days of travel, one overnight stay. Therefore, unlike all other tours in the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions described on the site, you will have to carry much more cargo than usual. There were 5 people in our group - each participant carried either a 50-liter tourist backpack (sleeping bags, tents, food, a change of clothes) or some other luggage.

Hiking shoes are a must: sneakers or, better yet, trekking boots. Personally, I walked in old shoes - it was still a pleasure: my feet very quickly begin to hurt due to constant jumping on stones.

Every day you will have to cover quite long distances: 15-25 kilometers. Moreover, most of The path to Mount Kruglitsa, Mitkin Rocks and the Otklikny ridge slopes upward. Before organizing a tour in the mountains of the Southern Urals, it is advisable to actively engage in physical exercise for at least a month: exercises, squats, running - i.e., you need to keep yourself in good physical shape.

Taganay National Park is a popular place not only among tourists coming from Chelyabinsk, Tyumen and Ufa, but also among travelers from all over Russia. I call on all like-minded people, lovers active rest take the garbage with you into civilization: the reserve is slowly turning into a not very tidy place. It’s better to buy firewood from rangers in shelters - at least they cut it from old dry trees - if every tourist cuts down wood in the clearings, soon we’ll be writing reports about trips to the desert, not to the taiga... In the area of ​​Otklikny ridge on the saddle in the direction near Kruglitsa there is already a forest-tundra: the trees are small, gnarled, and after human intervention they take decades to recover.

4. Route for a weekend hike, where you can see the main attractions of Taganay

On the official website of the park you can find a map of the paths, a plan for the placement of the main beautiful places.

I used a dotted line to show the trails we hiked in the summers of 2009 and 2010. Green - first day. Yellow - second day of the second trip. The red one is a diagram of returning to base on the first trip.

Option 1

The first day. Administration (1) – bridge over the Bolshaya Braid river (2) – “White Key” shelter (3) – “Gremyachiy Klyuch” shelter (4). We walk along this section in full gear: we carry heavy hiking backpacks. At Gremyachiy Klyuch we leave our luggage with the rangers and lightly “run” to the top of the Otkliknaya ridge (6), the distance to which is 4 kilometers in one direction.

Second day. The morning was rainy and cloudy. In the mountains the clouds are a continuous, impenetrable fog. We, like hedgehogs, followed the clearing past the Otklikny ridge (6) to the Valley of Fairy Tales (7). Nothing was visible there - along a very steep path (7-9) we went down to the Taganay shelter (9). From here, along the Old Kialim Road we returned to the starting point of our hike, where a car was waiting for us in the parking lot.

Option 2

The first day. This time we were more fortunate with the weather - it was sunny for two days. We walked from the Base (1) to the White Key parking lot (3). We left our backpacks in the care of the ranger, and ourselves climbed to the top of the Two-Headed Sopka mountain (altitude 1034 meters above sea level). We went down, had something to eat and proceeded to the “Rattlesnake Spring” (4), where we again set up camp and left our things with the forester. We went light to the Mitka rocks (5).

Second day. They didn’t bother dragging their backpacks, they entrusted them to the owner of the “Gremuchiy Ruchey” shelter. We went to the Response Ridge (6) and further to the Valley of Fairy Tales (7). We rested, saw the “miracles” and climbed Mount Kruglitsa (8) – the most high peak in Taganay National Park. Since the lower trail along the Old Kialim Road is not so interesting (there is only the Big Stone River there), we returned to the beginning of the route the same way we came: 8-7-6...1.

Both times we went on a tour of the Southern Urals from Yekaterinburg on Thursday evening. We spent the night near a small lake between the cities of Miass and Zlatoust in tents. The hike along Taganay began at 10 am on Friday. We returned back to Yekaterinburg late on Saturday evening (in fact, almost on Sunday). It takes about 5-6 hours to travel from Zlatoust to the capital of the Middle Urals - including rest.

5. Weekend hike in the mountains of the Taganay National Park. Report

In 2009, I photographed with a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W15 point-and-shoot camera. And it was only at that PVD that I held a DSLR in my hands for the first time. It was in those days that I realized what kind of camera I needed if I wanted to bring back beautiful, high-quality photographs from vacation. In general, some of the images presented in this story were taken on a compact camera, and some were taken on a Canon EOS 400D KIT 18-55 SLR camera. We didn’t know how to take photographs, we had never heard of processing RAW files, so all the photos were taken in JPEG format. I tried my best to prepare the pictures for publication, but, dear readers, please don’t be harsh! And one more thing: I ask for forgiveness for the fact that the report will contain a lot of selfies - in those happy days I did not know that I would be blogging and writing recommendations for organizing a tour of the Urals.

So, we left the car in the park administration parking lot (cost 60 rubles per day), recorded the GPS coordinates of the starting point and set off on a journey.

The upper trail is marked with white-blue-white paint. It starts at the barrier in front of the parking lot. First you walk along a rutted road, which then turns left, the path goes to the right. After some time, the trail splits into Upper and Lower. We turned to Verkhnyaya - there is a bridge over the Bolshaya Tesma River.

5.1 Shelter “White Key” and Mount Dvugovaya Sopka

Both paths meet at the White Key shelter at the foot of the Two-Headed Sopka mountain. The White Key base consists of several wooden houses, bathhouses and gazebos for relaxation. A spring with delicious water flows straight from the mountain. There are many tourists here on summer days, since it is not very far from the administration (about 6.5 kilometers). Very close to here is the Big Stone River.

We leave our backpacks for storage with the ranger, and we ourselves climb, first along a metal ladder, and then along a very steep path, to the top of the mountain.

The height of the Two-Headed Hill is 1034 meters above sea level. The views are unforgettable! I am sure that you will definitely not regret the efforts spent on climbing.

7. On one of the “feathers” of the Two-Headed Sopka mountain. Taganay Park in the Chelyabinsk region

After the descent we were already pretty hungry. For 50 rubles you can buy firewood for a fire, cook lunch and take a break.

5.2 Shelter Gremochiy Klyuch and Peak Otvoliknaya Ridge

Let's take a breath, let's move on. There is a picturesque forest around, along the way we cross the right tributary of the stone river - Kurum. We find ourselves in a clearing in front of the Gremyachiy Klyuch shelter. There used to be a small hut here. Now, judging by the official website of the Taganay National Park, a two-story guest house has been built (the room can be booked in advance).

I recommend stopping for the night at the Rattle Spring. The most important thing is that a stream with the purest mountain water flows here. In the clearing near the Otklikny ridge, it seems, there is also a spring, but we witnessed several times how tourists came to our stream for water from above - that is, they had to travel 4 kilometers down, and 4 kilometers back, with heavy burden. And at Gremuchiy Klyuch we calmly took water to cook dinner or wash ourselves after a hard hike in the heat.

We arrive at this point on the route when the sun is still quite high. In July 2009, we left our backpacks for storage and set off to conquer the top of the Otkliknaya ridge. It got this name because if you shout something from above, the echo will respond several times. The height of the rocks is about 100 meters, and the mountain rises 1155 meters above sea level. At the base there are kurmas, made of huge stone blocks.

We tried to climb to the very top. But, firstly, a thundercloud, black as hell itself, loomed on the horizon, and I didn’t really want to pretend to be a target for Perun, standing at the top. And secondly, the stones are very large; in some places it is extremely difficult to climb without climbing equipment. And you must always remember that going down in such places is much more dangerous! Experienced tourists do not advise climbing up if you are not sure that you can then overcome the way down... Thirdly, two people from our team, including me, have a fear of heights. In general, at that time we only reached the middle of the Otklikny ridge - and for 6 years now I have been tormented by the realization that the goal has not been achieved... We will have to organize another weekend tour by car to the Chelyabinsk region in order to conquer this unruly peak of Taganay.

16. In the background is the Middle Taganay ridge

Returning to the “Rattling Key” shelter, we set up tents and had time to dine on the world’s most delicious buckwheat porridge and mountain herb tea before the thunderstorm.

You can’t imagine what a joy it is to plop down in a tent after walking along 16 kilometers of roads cutting through the mountain taiga! You lie down, share your impressions of the day with friends, breathe in cleanest air, listen to the birds singing...

And at night there is a thunderstorm! The electric arrows did not hit from above, as in ordinary life, but from the side - the Gremuchiy Klyuch parking lot is located at an altitude of 822 meters above sea level. Unusual, I tell you...

5.3 Old Kialimskaya Road and Big Stone River in Taganay

On our first trip, in the summer of 2009, the next morning greeted us gloomily: nothing was visible at a distance of 50 meters. They took their luggage and stomped towards the clearing near the Otklikny ridge. In the fog it is completely invisible.

On the saddle between it and Mount Kruglitsa there is a section of forest-tundra. The pines look like in the fairy tale about Baba Yaga and Koshchei the Immortal. The fog turned this forest into a fairyland.

We reached point No. 7 on the route map of the national park - Valley of Fairy Tales. Here there are scatterings of white quartz sand between stunted pine trees, so local residents They call this place Sand Hills. And also - scatterings of strangely shaped stones, reminiscent of fairy-tale characters. But the fog prevented us from admiring the beauty - we found a path (7-9) leading through barricades of fallen trees down to the Taganay shelter (9).

If you decide to climb Mount Kruglitsa by walking along the Old Kialim Road (1-9), prepare for the fact that at the end of the road you will be assaulted by an almost vertical wall.

Trail 9-1 is mostly horizontal. It would seem that this is a relief. But without trekking boots it’s a real challenge! The road is paved with medium-sized stones (about the size of a fist), which dig painfully into the sole.

21. Great Kialimskaya Road - Lower Trail. There are no strong slopes here, like on the Upper Trail, but it is uncomfortable to walk because of the mud and stones. Description of routes along Taganay

The main tourist attraction on the Old Kilaim Road is the Big Stone River. These are placers of huge stone blocks weighing up to 10 tons in the valley between the Bolshoi and Middle Taganay ridges. The length of the kurum is 5-6 kilometers, the width is from 25 to 250 meters.

By the way, let me remind you that we already saw photographs of a small stone river in a report about a weekend trip to the mountains of Bashkiria. Kurumnik is located near the Otnurok village.

I am now finishing the first part of my review of the trip to the Southern Urals. Today we found out where the Taganay natural park is located, how to get to it by car and by car. public transport, how to get to the starting point in Zlatoust, got acquainted with the route map for 2 days and saw photographs of several beautiful places: the Two-Headed Sopka mountain, the Otkliknaya ridge peak and the Bolshaya Kamennaya River. In the next part we will look at photos from the Mitkin Rocks and from the ascent to Mount Kruglitsa.

It is widely famous for its beauty due to its picturesque mountain ranges.

This is a haven for tourists. Here you can admire high mountain ranges and bizarre stone outcrops, placers of kurums and an amazing stone river stretching for several kilometers, relict forests, subalpine woodlands and mountain tundras. There are also ancient mineral mines here.

Taganay National Park was created on March 5, 1991. He became the first in the Urals. The park occupies the northern part of the territory of the Zlatoust urban district and a small part of the Kusinsky district of the Chelyabinsk region. Its area is 56.8 thousand hectares.

Let's talk about its most interesting attractions.

Big Stone River

You can get to Taganay along the upper and lower paths. The lower trail runs along the Big Stone River, a huge scattering of stones. Its length reaches 5-6 kilometers, width from 20 to 700 meters, and its area is about 90 hectares. There are more than 2.5 million blocks of stone lying on the surface alone.

Double-headed hill

This is the southernmost peak of the Bolshoy Taganay ridge and the first mountain peak that tourists encounter on their way about 7 kilometers from the start of the path. A metal staircase goes up, then turns into a regular path. The two-headed hill is the most visited peak of Taganay. There are always a lot of tourists here, all year round. In winter, after a long, tiring climb, tourists quickly and cheerfully slide down to their fifth point. But at the same time, you need to remember about precautions: there have been accidents when colliding with trees and stones.

The double-headed hill is divided into two peaks: (1034 m) and Ram's foreheads(1041 m). The path leads to the first of them. At the top of the Feathers you can see the remains of a metal tower that once stood here. This was the first television repeater of Zlatoust, installed in 1958. He received the signal all the way from Sverdlovsk. However, he did not work for long - until 1961.

On one side the city of Zlatoust is visible, on the other - beautiful view on the Sheep's Foreheads and what appears behind them grand wall Response stone.

The southern slope of the mountain is called Climbing wall. As you might guess, climbers love to train here.

At the foot of the Double-Headed Hill a spring flows - White key. It got its name from the white quartzite that covers the bottom. This is the most famous water source of Taganay. Its water is clear and tasty. The softness is even higher than that of melted snow. The water is very cold, even in summer its temperature does not exceed 3-4 degrees. In the past, the White Key was revered as a holy spring; a wooden cross stood near it.

Nowadays, the White Key shelter has been created near the spring. To the north of the Dvuglavaya Sopka (between it and the Otklikny ridge) rise small Mitkiny rocks.

Response comb

The next peak of Bolshoi Taganay (and outwardly the most spectacular) is the Responsive Ridge (1155 m). It is named for its ridge-like outline and loud, repeated echoes caused by sound bouncing off the nearly vertical rock wall. From a distance, depending on the angle of view, it resembles either a prehistoric lizard, or a sea wave frozen on takeoff, or an elongated scallop. The length of the rocks is about 800 meters, the relative height from the foot is 150 meters. In the northeastern part of the Otklikny ridge there is a large tectonic fault along which underground fissure waters are discharged. There are also three ascending springs here. True, in the summer they often dry out.

On December 30, 1947, a plane flying from Chelyabinsk to Moscow crashed on the rocky wall of the Otklikny ridge. All five people on board died. The body of one of them, found only a few months later, was buried there. Even today, you can still find the wreckage of this plane between the stones.

Mount Kruglitsa

The trail from the Otklikny ridge to the next peak of the Bolshoy Taganay ridge - Kruglitse - passes through the so-called Valley of Fairy Tales. This place is a section of sub-alpine low-growing coniferous forest, surrounded by bizarre remains of sugar-like quartzites. Many remains have their own names, depending on who or what they resemble. The rocks that make up this section of the mountains easily crumble under the feet of tourists and the paths here are covered with coarse-grained quartz sand. They say that when walking on quartz under your feet, a piezoelectric effect sometimes occurs in this place and sparks can be seen in the dark.

Mount Kruglitsa (1178 m) is the highest point of the entire Taganay mountain range, which received its name for its characteristic round shape. Outwardly, its shape may resemble a volcano. The slopes of the mountain are covered with kurums. The northern part of the Kruglitsa peak is interesting, representing an ideal flat area.

Watching the peak of Kruglitsa on a clear sunny day, you can sometimes notice the curious effect of the mountain swaying, as if it were about to break away from its base. This phenomenon is explained by the streamlined shape of the peak and the close position of pressure groundwater (the foot of Kruglitsa is a continuous swamp). The sun, heating the stones, draws moisture from the cracks with its heat, the air becomes easily mobile, creating such an illusion.

Kruglitsa, like a magnet, attracts esotericists, occultists, and psychics. Various sacred signs are painted here and there on the stones. The most common is the Roerich sign. There are also many small seids made of stones. According to the beliefs of some tourists, wishes made on Kruglitsa will certainly come true.

To get to the next peak of the Bolshoy Taganay ridge - Dalniy Taganay - you need to go down and go through the Taganay tourist shelter. The climb to Dalniy Taganay is very long. Already on the way to the top you will come across a well and a sign nearby “Botanical monument Podgoltsy woodlands”.

Dalny Taganay (1146 m) is the northernmost and most extensive peak of the Bolshoy Taganay ridge. It is divided by several low but beautiful ridges. There is an excellent view of the neighboring ridges and mountains. From Zlatoust to Dalniy Taganay there are more than 20 kilometers.

Here is real tundra with its characteristic vegetation. In autumn, berries typical of the north are found. The Dalnetaganay mountain tundra is unique and is a natural monument.

At the top there are houses of the Taganay Gora weather station - the highest in the entire Urals. It was opened in 1932 and closed in 1992. Now there is a tourist shelter here. Usually there are noticeably fewer tourists here than at other shelters.

Three Brothers Rocks

Rocky outcrops of the Three Brothers rise above the forest between Kruglitsa and Dalniy Taganay. These are three high stone outcrops, up to 40-50 meters high. IN good weather they are clearly visible from Kruglitsa.

In the past, Old Believers hid in this place (as well as on Mount Itsil). In the 18th-19th centuries, Taganay forests were very popular among Old Believers. Persecuted by the authorities, adherents of the schism found refuge here. The schismatic hermitages were built underground, skillfully camouflaged from the outside with granite blocks, moss, and uprooted tree roots. It was almost impossible for the uninitiated to find them. In addition, the hermits were very careful in their contacts with the world.

Among them were people who were considered saints. So in the 50s XIX century Elder Zosima, who enjoyed incredible popularity, died, to whom people came from thousands of miles away for a blessing. After his death, a popular rumor spread that prayer at the elder’s grave (located somewhere on Taganay) heals diseases and works miracles. And in 1910, on Taganay, another elder Ambrose passed away into the world, whose relics were declared incorruptible by the schismatics.

Mount Jurma

Further north of Dalniy Taganay is Mount Yurma. This is the northernmost peak of the Taganay National Park, its height is 1003 meters. It is believed that the Southern Urals begin from here, and the area to the north belongs to the Middle Urals. The main attraction of Yurma is the picturesque rock of the Devil's Gate.

It is interesting that in ancient times the Bashkirs considered Yurma a holy place. It was forbidden to visit her. Translated from Bashkir, “yurma” means “don’t go.” And even today, the management of the Taganay National Park has classified the part of the mountain within the boundaries of the park as a protected area. For visiting it and spending the night here, you can be fined a tidy sum.

Small and Middle Taganay

The small ridges of Small and Middle Taganay stretch parallel to Bolshoi Taganay. Unlike the main attractions of the national park, these places are visited infrequently.

The length of Maly Taganay is about 11 kilometers, the maximum height is 1033 meters. The slopes of the mountain are covered with kurums, and there are rocky outcrops.

Middle Taganay is the shortest ridge of the Taganay mountain cluster system. Its length is 2.5 kilometers. The height reaches 959 meters.

If you drive along the road to Magnitka beyond the entrance to the national park, you can get to the Black Rock. Rocky outcrops rise here, from which a beautiful panorama of the Bolshoi Taganay mountain range opens. The height is 853 meters, belongs to the Nazminsky ridge. In the summer, the Black Rock art song festival takes place here. Dedicated to the Black Rock.

Akhmatovskaya mine

In the past, several mines and mineral mines operated on Taganay. The most famous mineral of Taganay is aventurine. This is a type of quartzite, which is a valuable ornamental stone. Taganay aventurine even got its own name - taganaite. In the Hermitage you can see a vase made from Taganai aventurine.

Perhaps the most famous mineral mine of Taganay is Akhmatovskaya. It is located near the road to Magnitka and has been known since 1811. It consists of two large workings and a series of small pits. There are just some minerals that are not found here!..

Zlatoust city

The path to Taganay begins from the city of Zlatoust - the birthplace of damask steel and unique engravings on steel. Dedicated to this South Ural city. If you have time, you can get acquainted with its sights, look into a good local history museum, climb the bell tower on Krasnaya Gorka and admire the mountain park named after. P.P. Bazhova. The city is surrounded by picturesque mountains. This gives it charm, although the city itself, it must be admitted, is very neglected by the city authorities.

How to get to Taganay?

Taganay National Park is located northeast of the city of Zlatoust in the Chelyabinsk region.

By car from Chelyabinsk or Ufa you need to take the M5 highway, then turn to Zlatoust. From Yekaterinburg you need to drive along the Chelyabinsk highway, then turn onto Kasli. At the beginning of the city of Miass, turn right - towards Zlatoust. The map below will help you navigate. You can leave your car in the parking lot near the entrance to the national park. Here you can also visit the Museum of Nature.

There are also buses and trains going to Zlatoust, and also electric trains from Chelyabinsk.

Entrance to the park requires a passport and a fee. You will even have to pay for overnight accommodation with your own tent. There are several shelters with houses in the park; you need to reserve places in advance.

It is better to go to Taganay for at least 4-5 days. This is enough to get around its main peaks. A visit is possible at any time of the year, but it is worth considering that weather in the mountains it is always noticeably tougher. Happy travels!

“Rivers of stone flow of immeasurable depth, the solid drops of which form huge blocks” - this is how P. P. Anosov poetically described this natural phenomenon. Stone rivers (locally called placers) are not uncommon on Taganay, Urenga, and other ridges of the Southern Urals. They are linearly elongated accumulations of stone blocks and rubble that have moved from mountain slopes to intermountain valleys. From the top of the mountains, placers really resemble real rivers. Their formation dates back to the era of the last glaciation. At this time, glaciers in the Southern Urals covered only the tops of the ridges, the height of which was close to the heights of the modern Alps (up to 4800 m). In this zone, due to physical weathering, intensive destruction of rocks occurred. The peaks broke up into large blocks, which, under the influence of gravity, slowly shifted along the slopes of the ridges, forming large placers to this day, the largest of which on Taganay - the BIG STONE RIVER - stretches for 5-6 km, reaching a width of 20 to 250 and even up to 700 meters.
Imagine that this entire area is occupied by large rounded blocks of quartzite, including aventurine, with a volume of 0.2-30 cubic meters (on average 3-4 cubic meters) and weighing 9-10 tons. Per 100 sq. meters of placers there are up to 300 individual blocks, and they lie no less than 4-6 meters deep, i.e. in 3-4 layers. Unlike the kurumniks, which to this day slowly move along the slopes of the mountains, the Big Stone River today is practically motionless, because it lies on the surface with a slope of only 2.5°.
Numerous mountain springs are often hidden under the “bed” of ancient stone streams, the muffled murmur of which can be heard in different places large placers.
As the famous local historian of the city of Zlatoust, Alexander Veniaminovich Kozlov, writes, he climbed the entire Kamennaya River up and down: The total area of ​​the Big Kamennaya River is about 90 hectares. In this territory, more than 2.5 million stone blocks with a volume of 1-2 cubic meters lie on the surface alone. m each, and in total there can be up to 8-9 million of them, considering that in placers they lie in three or four layers. For comparison: the construction of the famous Egyptian pyramid Cheops used 2.3 million limestone blocks with a volume of about a cubic meter each. From this it turns out that in only one Big Stone River, 3-4 Cheops pyramids lie in a “disassembled” form. It is these wonderful places that we decided to visit. To see for yourself, and to show you.
1.Welcome to the fairy tale.

2. getting lost in the Taganay National Park is becoming more and more difficult, but people manage to do it.

3.clear water of the Tesma River.


4.chips.


5. As in every fairy tale, ours has the same thing - a princess.

6. Knight and queen in search of mushrooms)))

7. Now the princess has joined them.

8. Rejuvenating rose hips.


9.And here is the mountain ash at the first stone stream, a tributary of the Stone River.


10.His Majesty the fly agaric.

11. We strain our eyes together and see a mythical dragon lying on the ground with its head towards us. This is the Responsive ridge, there is even a legend about it: Many years ago, a fierce beast allegedly lived in the cave of the Taganay ridge. He indiscriminately grabbed foot and horsemen and devoured them. Once a holy hermit, perhaps the same Zosimus, was walking, saw a beast crawling out of a cave, and turned to God with a prayer to destroy the monster. The Lord heeded the prayer and killed the beast with a block of stone, and as a souvenir to people, he left his voice in the mountains, “great and terrible,” add competent storytellers of some schismatic persuasion.


12.

13.snack on the Kamennaya River, stones heated in the sun, murmur of water and beauty all around!!!


14.Ottliknoy and Bolshaya Kamennaya River

15.and here there is a place for a miracle

16.How???

17.here is the thirst for life!!!

18.Well, here, a whole pine tree has grown, without an ounce of soil on the stones. Isn't this a miracle!?

19. And the Stone River, you know, “runs” further......


20.framed by the Taganay Mountains. View from the Kamennaya River to the Middle Taganay.

21. A cloud came over and we got ready to go home.

22. Go to that tower, not far from it, our mansions are located))))

23.on the road.

24.

25. And as a farewell, Taganay gave us an amazingly beautiful sunset!!!

26. Small Taganay (Sabbath).


27.


28. Mind-blowing)))

Well, this cloud probably flew to Taganay to spend the night... Remember how Lermontov did?

The golden cloud spent the night
On the chest of a giant rock;
In the morning she rushed off early,
Playing merrily across the azure;

But there was a wet trace in the wrinkle
Old cliff. Alone
He stands, deep in thought
And he cries quietly in the desert.


See you in the South Ural expanses.

There is such a miracle of nature in the Chelyabinsk region as the Kamennaya River: amazing and impressive nature education. The Big Stone River Taganay is a natural monument. A formation similar in size and beauty of stones is known only in India and nowhere else on the globe.

The Stone River is a uniform accumulation of huge rocky debris that stretches for many hundreds of meters and looks very similar to a river.

The Bolshaya Kamennaya River is located between the Bolshoi and Middle Taganay ridges and stretches from northeast to southwest for approximately 6 km, reaching a width of 20 to 270 m. The Kamennaya River consists of large blocks with a volume of up to 30 m³ (but on average 3 -4 m³). Per 100 sq. meters there are up to 300 blocks, they lie no less than 4-6 m deep, i.e. in 3-4 layers. There is no vegetation here except lichens. Nothing can grow through a pile of stones.

Numerous mountain streams are often buried under the “bed” of ancient stone streams.

Stone rivers consist mainly of quartzites, and in Taganay - of their variety - aventurine.

The origin of the stone rivers has not been fully studied; there are versions that the Bolshaya Kamennaya was formed by a glacier during the descent from the Taganay Mountains.

Many people mistakenly call the stone river kurumnik. Unlike the kurums, which even today continue to slowly slide down, the Big Stone River is currently practically motionless, and the slope here does not exceed 2.5°.

Coordinates the beginning of the stone river on the hiking trail:
55°14’44.58″С
59°46’24.27″B
Further the path crosses a stone riverbed

Every tourist is obliged to visit this miracle of nature. The Stone River on Taganay is also accessible to family hike. It's easy to get there.
In the north of Zlatoust, find the village. Pushkinsky (the road to the village of Magnitka begins from here.
In 300 m there will be a worship cross, and on the right is a sign “Taganay National Park”. Here in the house with the inscription “Tourist Registration” you need to check in the log. There are information stands in front of the park entrance.
The “lower” path leads to the Kamennaya River itself, the one that crosses the Bolshaya Tesma along the lower bridge. You can see the route in detail at the stands or ask a park employee.

Taganay translated from the Bashkir language means “moon stand”. At night, the moon seems to stand on a support, which is Mount Taganay. Its length is more than 20 km and it consists of large, medium and small ridges.

History of the creation of Taganay Park

The natural national park is located near the city of Zlatoust, which is located in the Chelyabinsk region. Intensified deforestation in the Urals has been carried out since the late sixties of the last century. A barbaric felling technique was used, when loggers using powerful equipment completely felled the entire forest over a large area. After such work, only thistles grew in this area for more than 10 years. The country needed building material and few people thought about the consequences that could arise after the destruction of the forest. It was only in 1985 that articles on environmental topics began to appear in the press, raising the issue of thoughtless deforestation.

In 1988, the Chelyabinsk Industrial Forestry Association planned to allocate 20 thousand cubic meters of Taganay forest land for felling. At this time (January 1988), representatives of the local community wrote an open letter to the Zlatoust newspaper about the barbaric destruction of forests, containing about 30 signatures of workers from various enterprises in the city. January is considered the month of creating a public forest protection committee. Under pressure from the public, the city leadership decides to create a national park on the territory of the Zlatoust timber processing plant. And at the beginning of March 1991, the Taganay State Natural National Park was formed.

general information

Taganay is a huge stone chain more than 20 kilometers long and consisting of ridges called Big, Small and Middle Taganay Mountains.

The height of one of the ridges is represented by: Responsive Ridge, Dvuglavaya Sopka, Dalniy Taganay and Kruglitsa. The other is Sabbat and Mont Blanc. The middle ridge is only 960 meters high. The closest to the city of Zlatoust is the Small Ridge, about 8 kilometers long.

The park contains many delightful places that attract visitors from different parts of the country. Here there are unusual stone sculptures, large mountain ranges, stone rivers, ancient mines, mountain tundra, kurumniks, relict forests, many mountain rivers, huge mountain ranges. At the entrance to the park there is a view of the peaks of Baranyi Loby and Perya Double-Headed Hill, which are more than a kilometer high.

At the base of the hill there is a spring called the White Key. Surprisingly clear and soft-tasting water remains cool even on the hottest day. Its temperature does not exceed 4 degrees. White quartzite covers the bottom of the spring and emits a pleasant light, which is why this place is considered holy.

The next attraction of the park is a peak called Otkliknaya Ridge, whose height is more than 1000 meters. When loud sounds occur, a multi-voice, deafening echo is heard near him. If you look at it from a certain angle, it looks like an ancient foot-and-mouth disease, an elongated crest or a rising sea wave.

Several stone cliffs, about 40 meters high, located at a short distance from each other, are called Three Brothers. This stone sculpture is located between Kruglitsa and Dalniy Taganay. If you look at them from a distance, you get the feeling that these mighty brothers are descending from the top together.

Along the path covered with quartz sand, from the Otklikny ridge through the Valley of Fairy Tales you can get to Mount Kruglitsa. The Valley of Fairy Tales is a small area where a low-growing sub-alpine forest grows, surrounded by intricate quartzite sculptures. Each stone looks like marvelous animals or characters from fairy tales.

Dalny Taganay

This mountain is the most severe. The winds constantly blow here, there is nowhere to hide from the scorching rays of the scorching sun, but nevertheless the area looks quite hospitable. In the early morning, when thick fog descends into the valleys, it is sunny on this hill, golden rays brown the already bright lingonberries and golden the tops of the rocky mountains. Thirty-degree heat at the foot of Mount Taganay can suddenly change into freezing cold when climbing up. Strong wind gusts sometimes exceed 40 meters per second.

When going up and down the mountain in June or August, you can see four seasons at once within an hour. The nature on Taganay is very beautiful during the August winter. Trees, grass and rocks are decorated with lace made of snow frost. Thick wires are covered with a crust of ice and sag, almost touching the ground. A strong wind tears pieces of ice from them and scatters them across the snow-white tundra. Going half a kilometer down, you can see the beautiful colors of autumn. The leaves of the trees are yellowish-green, and the bright clusters of rowan are covered with small whitish lumps of snow. A little lower, in the valley, the rays of the hot summer sun sparkle.

A weather station was opened in Dalniy Taganay in 1932, which existed until the beginning of 2005. Meteorologists not only predicted the weather, but also always provided assistance to tourists in trouble.

Big Taganay

Mount Taganay is located eight kilometers from Zlatoust. Here is located Bolshoy Taganay, consisting of three peaks: Two-Glava Sopka, Otkliknyy Ridge and Kruglitsa.

Middle Taganay

Eight kilometers from the border of Taganay Park between Small and Large is located Middle Taganay. It is approximately two and a half kilometers long, has three faint hills and is composed of quartzite minerals. At the peaks there are remnants of different shapes. The slopes of the heights of Mount Taganay are covered with scatterings of kurumnik, juniper, larches, low spruce, birch, and fir trees.

Maly Taganay

The Taganay mountain range on the eastern side is called Maly Taganay. It is located just three kilometers from the Taganay Park cordon and stretches for as much as eleven kilometers from southwest to northeast. Rocky ridges are located on the northern and southern parts ridge, the western slopes are covered with kurumniks. In the central part there is a high mountain plateau on which spruce and birch trees grow. The upper third of the ridge is occupied by mountain meadows covered with dense vegetation. The entire Taganay mountain range is visible from the peaks of Maly Taganay.

Mount Kruglitsa

This is the most high point Taganay, which rises at a level of 1 km 178 m. The name of the mountain is associated with its inherent rounded shape, although part of the peak on the northern side has an impeccable flat surface. On a cloudless day, when the sun is shining brightly, watching Kruglitsa, you can see how it sways - it seems that the mountain is ready to tear itself away from the foot. This effect is explained by the rounded shape of the stones, as well as nearby groundwater (the foot of the mountain is located in a swamp). Stones heated by the sun's rays lose moisture, which is stored in the crevices, the air becomes mobile and the illusion described above is created. Mount Kruglitsa in Taganay, like a huge powerful magnet, attracts people who are interested in mysterious and paranormal phenomena. There is also a belief that all wishes made on the hill will definitely come true.

Unusual rivers of Taganay

Stone rivers are an amazing natural formation, which is a pile of elongated rocky debris of enormous size, stretching for hundreds of kilometers. The inhabitants of those places call them placers.

One of the legends of the formation of these rivers says that the cause was a glacier that came down from the Taganay Mountains and contributed to the destruction of rocks. Large blocks, under the influence of gravity due to the collapse of the mountain top, gradually shifted along the slopes of the ridges, forming rivers of stone. The largest of them is located between the Sredny and Bolshoi Taganay ridges. The Bolshaya Kamennaya River has a span of about six kilometers, and its width in some places ranges from 20 to 700 m. Round-shaped blocks of stone weighing about 10 tons are located along its entire length. These blocks lie approximately five meters deep, and there are about 300 pieces per 100 square meters. Vegetation in this place includes lichen and rare spruce trees, which are several hundred years old. The blocks contain aventurine, one of the varieties of quartzite.

Placers of stone blocks made of colored aventurine, which are located near Itsil and Dalniy Taganay, are called the Kurumnaya River. Bizarrely shaped pines growing near the placers beautifully frame multi-colored stones.

Mountain Pencil

In the Southern Urals of the Kusinsky district of the Chelyabinsk region, on the territory of the Arshinsky reserve, is located one of the oldest mountains on our planet called Karandash, which means “black stone”. Its age is estimated at 4.2 billion years. Over time, under the influence of wind, air and water, the height of the mountain decreased to 600 meters.

The type of black stone from which the Pencil is made is called izrandite. This is one of the rarest and very ancient stones of our planet. Its composition is similar to the composition of the earth's mantle and does not contain organic matter. Many residents of the Urals do not even suspect that they live next to an amazing natural monument, although data about it was published by scientists in the press for quite a long time.

Mont Blanc

The Middle and Small Taganay mountains in the Urals are connected by a watershed isthmus on which the Mont Blanc peak is located. It is fifteen kilometers from the city of Zlatoust. The height of the mountain is 1025 meters. It received its name in honor of the highest mountain clusters in Western Europe, located in the Western Alps. A wonderful view of the Taganay Mountains opens from the top of Mont Blanc; it is from here that the main peaks of Taganay are accessible to view.

Deep into history

This area has ancient history and many interesting facts. For example,

1. Information about the oldest ranges in the world varies, but many official sources confirm that these are the Ural Mountains.
2. Since the 11th century, the Ural Mountains in Rus' have been called the Earth Belt or the Big Stone. In the Middle Ages, they began to be called the Urals on maps.
3. The modern lands of the Southern Urals were initially called, in a word, the Urals.
4. Among the Old Believers, the Taganay forests were very popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Elder Zosimus, who was known as a saint, also lived there. Popular rumor says that a prayer read at his grave, located on Taganay, works unprecedented miracles and heals from ailments.
5. The schismatics conducted their secret rites in the area of ​​stone outcrops called the Three Brothers. This was one of the favorite places of the Old Believers.
6. The Urals began to “sink” about five hundred million years ago. As a result, there was a decrease in the level of elevations.
7. Mount Taganay was finally formed twenty-five million years ago.

• It turns out that in Canada there are Mountain peaks, which are approximately the same age as Mount Karandash.
• The water at the top of Mount Kruglitsa boils at a temperature of 96 degrees, since the atmospheric pressure there is 100 mm lower than above sea level.
• The softness of the water from the White Key is higher than that of melted snow.
• Some local residents and numerous tourists who visited Taganay saw a UFO landing and found traces of Bigfoot. And others even came into contact with them and found themselves in a different time. Whether it is true or fiction, everyone decides for themselves. But, undoubtedly, Taganay is shrouded in mysticism.

Tourist routes

The Ural Taganay Mountains attract a huge number of tourists and are part of the anomalous Ural zone. There are several roads within the national park:

• from the southwestern side: Zlatoust - Magnitka - Aleksandrovka;
• from the south - Zlatoust - Miass.

Hiking trails are laid in intermountain valleys and mountains by travelers themselves. One of the most famous goes along the eastern slope of Bolshoi Taganay. It is in these places that valuable natural complexes, not yet touched by man:

• Three stone cliffs called Three Brothers.
• Nikolae-Maximilianovskaya mine.
• Responsive comb.
• Remains of the Devil's Gate on the top of Mount Jurma.
• the Bolshaya Tesma and Bolshaya Kialim rivers.
• Akhmatovsky mine.
• The Three Sisters Hill, the Mica Hill and several unnamed outcrops located near the Two-Headed Hill, together forming the so-called Mitkiny rocks.

Snow cover in the Southern Urals lasts from 160 to 190 days. The maximum air temperature is +38 degrees, and the minimum is -50.

Taganaysky mountain range- one of the unique corners of nature, located in the Southern Urals.