Gorges and canyons in Russia

There are many beautiful gorges and canyons in Russia, where tourist routes are laid. The gorges and canyons in the Caucasus and Altay are the most accessible to visit in Russia. There are very beautiful gorges in more distant regions, for example, on the plateau of Putoran, but they are less accessible to unprepared tourists. 

In this review on the online travel guide Geomerid you can read about the most beautiful gorges and canyons of Russia, which are easily accessible to visit:

1.    Sulak Canyon, Dagestan
2.    Chegem gorge, KBR
3.    Karadakh Gorge
4.    Gorge of Adyr-Su river, KBR
5.    Guam Gorge, Adygea
6.    Granite Canyon, Adygea
7.    Navalishchenskoye gorge, Kuban
8.    Chulcha River Gorge, Altay
9.    Baksan Gorge, KBR

Follow the hyperlinks to read in detail about each gorge and see a large number of photos

Sulak Canyon, Dagestan

Sulak Canyon is the deepest in Russia and one of the deepest in the world. To visit it, you need to allocate a whole day. There are several viewing platforms on the side of the village of Dubki. If you want to see the canyon from the south side, as well as ride a boat along the rapid flow of the Sulak River, then you need to go there with an excursion. 

Sulak Canyon is located between the Salatau mountain ridge and the Gimrinsky ridge. The maximum depth of the canyon reaches 1920 meters, and on average its depth ranges from 1300 meters. Sulak Canyon is one of the Top10 deepest canyons in the world. Since Dagestan geographically belongs to Europe, the canyon can be called the deepest in Europe. Sometimes the deepest canyon in Europe is called the Canyon of the Tara River in Montenegro. However, its maximum depth is only 1300 meters. 

Chegem Gorge, KBD

Chegem gorge is located on the Northern slope of the Caucasus Mountains of Russia, near the town of Nalchik. This is one of the most beautiful gorges in the Caucasus Mountains. It stretches for more than 80 kilometers, but the most interesting part of the Chegem gorge for tourists is located between The Chegem waterfalls and the village of Eltybiy.

The height of the rocks in the Chegem canyon reaches 300 meters, and at the narrowest point, the width of the canyon between the rocks is only 25 meters. After ending of the Chegem canyon, a wide valley with beautiful landscapes begins from the southern slope of the Rocky ridge. The distance from Chegem waterfalls to the village of Eltybiy is 20 kilometers. In the village, you should see the Necropolis, which also called “The city of the Dead”. It is located on the slope of the Kara-Tyubu mountain. The crypts in the necropolis are dated to the 11th-17th centuries. 

Karadakh Gorge

The Karadakh Gorge is one of the most interesting tourist attractions in Dagestan. It is located near the village of Karadakh, in the Valley of the Avar Koisu River. The gorge is a narrow canyon about half a kilometer long. In the narrowest part, the width of the canyon is only 2-4 meters, and the height of the steep walls reaches 170 meters. 

The Kvartakh River flows along the bottom of the Karadakh gorge, but it is filled with rainwater. During heavy rains, a powerful stream flows here, which makes the gorge inaccessible to visitors. As we approach the narrowest point of the gorge, the limestone cliffs begin to close. As elsewhere in Dagestan, they have a beautiful layered structure: limestone alternates with clay shale. Only a narrow strip of sky is visible inside the gorge. It is always dim and cool even on a hot day. Because of this, the Karadakh Gorge is called the Dark Gorge. There is absolutely no vegetation inside it due to the lack of sunlight.

Gorge of the Adyr-Su River

The gorge of the Adyr-Su River is one of the most beautiful places in the Elbrus National Park. Its length reaches 17 kilometers, and the mountains of the Greater Caucasus Range rise above it. Followers of esoteric teachings believe that there are two Places of Power in the Adyr-Su gorge – the Glade of Desires at the foot of Ullu-Tau Mountain and the Living Lake in the gorge of the Kullumkol River. 

There are several mountains in the Adyr-Su gorge with a height of more than 4 thousand meters. Their peaks are covered with snow all year round.  Since the 1930s, this place has become one of the centers of mountaineering. In 1938, the largest mountaineering camp in the USSR, Dzhaylyk, was built here, which in 1983 destroyed a powerful mudflow. However, the popularity of the Adyr-Su gorge has not decreased. Now it is visited not only by climbers, but also by ordinary tourists to enjoy the beautiful mountain views and visit the famous Caucasian Places of Power. 

Guam Gorge, Adygea

Guam gorge in Adygeya, in the upper reaches of the Kurdzhips River, is one of the main attractions of the Caucasus Nature Reserve in Russia. The length of the canyon is 4 kilometers. In some places it is very narrow. With the height of walls reaching 400 meters, there may be only several meters between them. The sides of rocks are covered by relict trees: yews, box-trees and hornbeams.

There are many beautiful rapids and small waterfalls in the Guam canyon. They cut their way through layered rocks. The tourist path begins at Guamka. You can get there by a car. Small trains of 4 carriages us a problem for tourists as at daytime, when the trains run along the canyon, it is closed for visiting on foot until 17.00. Surely, you can go there by train, but it is impossible to see all the beauties of the canyon from the window of a train. The best time to visit Guam canyon is Monday or Tuesday. Those days trains go to the canyon a whole day.

Granite Canyon, Adygea

The Granite canyon of the Belaya River is one of the most impressive sights of a Caucasus nature reserve in Adygea of Russia. It is amazing that a mountain river could cut its way among massive granite rocks at the bottom of a narrow canyon. The canyon is not far from village Dakhovskaya on the way from Kamennomostsky to Guzeripl.

The canyon itself stretches for about 4 kilometers. The river passes by pink granite rocks. In that place its water also acquires a beautiful turquoise shade. Rapids, whirlpools and rifts of the narrow Granite canyon look very picturesque. In some places the canyon is only 2 meters wide.

Navalishchenskoye gorge, Kuban

Navalishinsky Canyon may be considered as one of the most curious places in Sochi, where you can get to a primeval relic forest. Semi-darkness always reigns in yew & boxwood groves and there you can feel the atmosphere of the tropics.
From the entrance to the Navalishchenskoye gorge, a staircase goes down the canyon. It is necessary to go down to the White Rocks. There is a small waterfall that falls between narrow white rocks.

Groves of relict trees grow upstream in the Navalishen Gorge. Here, not only trees, but also rocks and the ground are covered with moss. Up you will need to walk two kilometers to the campsite. At the entrance to the gorge, you can pre-arrange to be picked up from the campsite by car.

Gorge of the Chulcha River, Altay

The gorge of the Chulcha River is one of the most beautiful places of the Altay Biosphere Reserve. It begins at the place where the Chulcha River flows into the Chulyshman and stretches for 8 kilometers to the Uchar waterfall. There is a hiking trail along the right bank of the river. 

Uchar Waterfall is one of the main tourist attractions of the Altay Mountains in Russia. It is a stepped cascade, 160 meters high, littered with huge stones. The Uchar waterfall is the main goal of the hike along the Chulcha River Gorge, but you need to understand that the gorge itself is an exceptionally beautiful place of the Altay Nature Reserve. 

Baksan gorge, Elbrus

The Baksan gorge is one of the longest in the Caucasus. It is very picturesque, and at its end rise the mountains of Elbrus and Cheget. There are excellent conditions for skiing in winter. Summer trekking routes through mountain valleys are also suitable for any level of physical fitness.

The Baksan gorge begins near the town of Baksan and then goes through the village of Zayukovo for 100 kilometers to the Azau Glade, where the lower station of the cable car to Elbrus is located. The road along the Baksan gorge is very picturesque, but it is not used for trekking, since the gorge itself is very wide and the distances are very long. The Baksan river flows through it. It is best to view the gorge from the slopes of the Cheget or Elbrus mountains.