Karakaya-Su Waterfall in Dzhily-Su

Karakaya-Su Waterfall is one of the most beautiful waterfalls of the Dzhily-Su nature site on the northern slope of Mount Elbrus. There are many waterfalls in this place. Sultan-Su is the highest and most powerful, but the Karakaya-Su waterfall is not much inferior to it in beauty and grandeur. 

The Sultan Waterfall is visible from almost any point of the Dzhily-Su nature site, but the Karakaya-Su waterfall is hidden in a narrow gorge. Many people do not even know about it, although it is located 1 kilometer from the barrier, which is installed near the House of the President of Karachay-Cherkessia. Walking along this trail, you can see another small waterfall called the Emir.

The Karakaya-Su waterfall falls from a 30-meter height from a rocky ridge. Translated from the Turkic language, Karakaya-Su Waterfall means "Water on a Black rock". Like the Sultan Waterfall, in summer the water of the Karakaya-Su Waterfall has a cloudy gray color, and in spring and autumn the water of the waterfall is transparent. This is due to that in summer the glaciers of Elbrus begin to actively melt, and there is a lot of clay and sedimentary rocks in them, which makes the local rivers muddy.

The river is called Karakaya and after the waterfall falls into the gorge, it flows into the larger Malka River. Karakaya-Su Waterfall is sandwiched between layered rocks of marl. On the right side, at a height of 20 meters, there is a small grotto, and on the left side, a huge pyramidal rock rises above the waterfall.