TOP-20 amazing corners of nature in Russia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

We put them together. From the world-famous beauty of Baikal to completely unexplored inaccessible places.

1. Baikal

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This lake is the best in everything - both in depth and in volume of water. In addition to its incredible size, it is famous for its flora and fauna - about a thousand species of living organisms, including 27 species of fish, live only in it. Tourism is actively developing here, but if you move away from the most popular places, you can still see untouched nature.

2. Valley of Geysers

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It is difficult to convey the share of impressions from the beauty and unreality of this place. Columns of hot steam burst from the ground, and bears can sometimes be found in natural mud pools. All this takes place on a small area of about 6 sq. km in the canyon of the Geysernaya River in Kamchatka.

By the way, the valley was discovered quite recently - in 1941, a geologist woman Tatyana Ustinova got there with a guide on a dog sled. In 2007, the valley had already disappeared from the face of the earth due to a landslide, but in 2013 the geysers began to clog again - a new landslide cleared the natural dam.

Nowadays, most often fly there by helicopter from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

3. Karelia

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The map of this northern republic is cut with lakes and waterfalls, and it seems that there is more water here than land.

You can endlessly explore the local cliffs covered with dense coniferous forests, but to get an express impression you need to visit the Ruskeala Mountain Park, which, by the way, can be reached one day from St. Petersburg, having transferred to the atmospheric retro train on the final leg of the journey.

4. Altai

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There are still many unexplored paths in the mountains of the Altai massifs, and a trip here is definitely not suitable for those who are used to comfort. But as a payment for the Spartan conditions and many kilometers of marches, the tourist opens up incredible views of mountain peaks, fast rivers and flower meadows. One of the most beautiful highways in Russia, the Chuisky tract, passes through Altai.

5. Curonian Spit

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In the very west of Russia there is a unique nature reserve, where dancing trees of the most bizarre shapes have grown on a sandy narrow spit almost 100 km long. Here you can walk with an (audio) guide through incredible eco trails among dunes and futuristic sandy beaches, as well as breathe in the clean pine air.

6. Manpupuner

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These stone giants in the Urals were once mountains, but under the influence of winds and time, such pillars remained from them. True, the local Mansi peoples have their own legends about the appearance of stone idols. You can fly here by helicopter, but you can also go on a long hike on foot and at the same time see the mysterious and notorious Dyatlov Pass.

7. Lena Pillars

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Rocks of incredible shapes stretch for 40 km along the Lena River, picturesquely reflected in its waters. "Pillars" captured several rounds of evolution at once and store the remains of creatures of the Paleozoic era. Mammoths and other extinct mammals were also found here.

You can get here in summer by boat, and in winter by snowmobiles from Yakutsk.

8. Mount Elbrus

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The Caucasian mountain range is a whole storehouse of natural wonders. There are waterfalls and mountain lakes. And all this wealth is crowned by its main, highest peak - Elbrus. A kind of Russian Everest and the highest mountain in Europe. From there, you can see the entire Caucasus, as well as try an unusual experience - stay in a capsule hotel on the side of a mountain.

9. Kungur ice cave

Vladimir Chiprukov (CC BY-SA 4.0)

From the beautiful peaks, let's move underground. Not far from the Ural city of Perm, underground there is a whole ice palace, where eternal winter reigns. There is no snow queen here, but at every step there are countless grottoes, underground lakes, snow crystals, stalactites and stalagmites.

10. Putorana plateau

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The unique plateau in the inaccessible northern Siberia is dotted with ancient traps - deep gorges through which volcanic lava flowed hundreds of thousands of years ago. It is a land of cliffs, waterfalls and incredible lakes. The area of this mountain plateau is almost 250 thousand square kilometers, for comparison - the area of the American Grand Canyon is about 5 thousand square kilometers.

11. Volcanoes of Kamchatka

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The landscapes of Kamchatka are striking in their diversity. The most striking thing is its volcanoes, which, as tourists say, literally magnetize the eye. 30 active and 300 extinct volcanoes of this region are included in the UNESCO list of natural heritage. Columns of smoke emanate from some of them, while others make real eruptions.

Many volcanoes, especially near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, can be climbed as part of an organized excursion.

12. Lake Sasyk-Sivash

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The Crimean peninsula is rich in natural beauty. The mountains are not high, but picturesque, there are caves, wild beaches and incredible landscapes. But one place near the city of Evpatoria is especially unique - and attracts crowds of Instagrammers. It is a salty lake that varies in color from pink to bright coral at different times of the year.

And all because of algae, which produce β-carotene.

13. Quiet Bay, Sakhalin

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This is one of the most picturesque places on the distant island in the very east of Russia. Even in bad weather, the rocky shores seem to embrace the bay from both sides, preventing the winds from entering here. You can climb the local hills and admire the bay from above.

14. Kinzelyuk waterfall

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An absolutely amazing landscape will open to a tourist who gets to this most inaccessible place in the Sayan Mountains in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. A beautiful cascade of waterfall from one mountain lake falls into another, and then into a mountain river. The highest height of free fall of water here is 90 meters.

15. Chara sands

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This desert, 700 km east of Lake Baikal, is one of the strangest in the world. 30 square kilometers of sands are surrounded by taiga, swamps and lakes, and the transition from desert to other types of landscape is very abrupt. Besides, where else can you see the desert overlooking the snow-capped mountain peaks?

16. Franz Josef Land

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This archipelago of more than 190 islands in the Arctic Ocean will surprise travelers with incredible snowy landscapes. The northernmost point of Russia is also located in this permafrost zone. One of the extraordinary wonders of the Earth that can be found here is the perfectly round stones on Champ Island. Scientists still disagree on how they formed.

17. Vasyugan swamps

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It is difficult to imagine that swamps can be something special, much less a miracle of nature. However, these swamps in the Tomsk region are something completely unique, if only because of their incredible size.

Their area is 53 thousand square kilometers - like a whole European country - and besides, it is constantly growing. The swamp is protected by the state because it is a huge reservoir of fresh water.

Plus, bog peat slows down global warming!

18. Lake Elton

Stanislav Kaznov

Once salt from this lake was supplied to the table of Russian tsars and eminent nobles. Now salt is mined mainly from the neighboring Baskunchak, and Elton is a natural attraction.

In the heat, the water here almost completely dries up, while salt, like ice, fetters plants and any objects that fall into the lake. So tourists are advised to wear stronger shoes so as not to get a salt burn.

19. Mount Big Bogdo

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Near the salt lake Baskunchak in the Astrakhan region there is an unusual mountain, with which nature has played to its fullest.

The salt dome here is covered with sandstones and clay, and in the process of weathering, funny “singing rocks” have formed into a round hole. There are many caves and niches where you can see traces of ancient creatures.

20. Lake Jack London

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In the Magadan region, in the region of the Kolyma River, there is a picturesque place - a narrow elongated lake, the winding landscape of which resembles fjords. The climate around is harsh - it is not for nothing that these places in Soviet times were notorious for the most brutal GULAG branches in terms of working conditions. But the natural beauty has remained unchanged, despite the dark pages of history.

It is believed that such an unusual name was given to the lake by geologists who loved the American writer. However, there is also a mystical legend that the participants of the first expedition allegedly found Jack London's book "Martin Eden" on the shore of the lake.