Lakes of the Caucasus

The lakes of the Caucasus are of great interest to tourists. There are several thousand lakes and seasonal reservoirs in the Caucasus Mountains that appear during the melting of glaciers. The Caucasus Mountains stretch for a thousand kilometers from Anapa to Dagestan. Some mountains need to be climbed, overcoming a climb of a thousand meters, others can be reached by car.

In this review on the Geomerida online guide, we will talk about the Lakes of the Caucasus, which are within walking distance for ordinary tourists, and to which convenient hiking trails are laid.

1. Lake Ritsa (Abkhazia)
2. Lake Donguz-Orun-Kel (Elbrus)
3. Semitsvetnoe lake (Arkhyz)
4. Lake Bashkara (Adyl-Su Gorge)
5. Living Lake (Adyr-Su Gorge)
6. Turquoise Lakes (Caucasian Nature Reserve)
7. Small Dukka lakes (Arkhyz) 
8. Baduki lakes (Dombai)
9. Lake Gizhgit (Baksan gorge)
10. Trout lake (Dombai)
11. Lake Sukko (Anapa)

Lake Ritsa (Abkhazia)

All those who spend their holidays in Abkhazia or in the area of Sochi want to visit the Lake Ritsa, which may be quite rightly acknowledged the most beautiful one in the Caucasus. The lake is encircled by the picturesque mountains creating a beautiful rocky relief of the shores of the Lake Ritsa.

The groups of tourists are brought to the southern shore of the Lake Ritsa where a large recreation zone was created with a great number of various cafes and restaurants offering the dishes of the national Abkhazian cuisine. There are also two viewing points and and a boat station where one can rent a boat and have a ride on the lake. There are no places for swimming in that part of the Lake Ritsa. 

If you have a motor-car or take a jeep excursion, you can go as far as the northern shore of the Lake Ritsa, where fording a small river you will come to a sloping shore, which is easy to enter the lake. The Lake Ritsa is high in the mountains (about 1000 meters above the sea level), and also it is sourced by the mountain icy-cold rivers and streams, so the water in the lake is rather cold even in the hottest summer months. However, the sweltering people, as a rule, have a dip in the waters of the Lake Ritsa to cool down.

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Lake Donguz-Orun Kel (Elbrus)

The high-altitude glacial lake Donguz-Orun Kel (2515 m) is located between the rocky slopes of the mountains Donguz-Orun Bashi (4450m) and Nakra-Tau (4228 m). The tongues of glacier “Seven” descend along the slopes of these mountains. The path to the Donguz-Orun Kel lake goes from the first cable car station on Cheget mountain (2750 m). The trail follows the Cheget slope with a slight drop in height down. The lake itself is located at an altitude of 2515 m, and the trail passes 100 meters above the lake.

 The shores of the lake are swampy and rock screes of glaciers descend to them. In spring and early summer, many flowers grow on the slope of Cheget mountain. This is an area of Alpine meadows. In June, fields of rhododendrons bloom here, and you can even see black tulips. The lake itself is fed by two streams Donguzorun and Medvezhy, but other streams of water with various minerals get there from the glaciers. Different parts of the lake have different colors due to these minerals. In summer, the waters of the lake look bright azure, and by autumn they turn a steely color.

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Seven-colored Lake (Arkhyz)

Seven-colored Lake is one of the most beautiful mountain reservoirs in Arkhyz. It is located in the valley of the Big Dukka River. If you come here on a sunny day, you will see that the color of the water in the lake fully justifies its name. At different depths and under different lighting, it shimmers with different colors from dark blue to turquoise. At a shallow depth, the water is absolutely transparent and the stones at the bottom add shades to the color of the water.

Seven-colored Lake is located on the slope of the Arkasarsky mountain range at an altitude of 2420 meters. Rhododendrons grow on its shore and in the vicinity. The length of the shore of the Seven-colored Lake reaches 200 meters. If you have the time and energy, you can walk another 700 meters with a climb of 200 meters to reach the stone ledge, where there is another small lake. It offers a beautiful view of the Seven-colored Lake.

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Lake Bashkara

The high-altitude lake Bashkara is located in the gorge of the Adyl-Su River in the Elbrus National Park. It lies at the foot of the Jantugan Mountain (4012 m). The Bashkara glacier descends down the mountainside to the lake. The depth of Lake Bashkara is 32 meters. It is filled with glaciers of Bashkara and Dzhantugan. Now Lake Bashkara is one of the most beautiful in the Caucasus, but in 2017 there was a moraine breakthrough and a mudflow. This led to major destruction in the Baksan Gorge. 

Lake Bashkara is separated from the Gorge of the river Adyl-Su by large moraines of glaciers. However, one of the moraines near the Bashkara glacier was constantly eroding and in the early 2000s seismologists warned about its possible destruction and mudslide. Such mudflows have occurred before, but the most powerful occurred on September 1, 2017. After heavy rains, the moraine could not withstand the water pressure. A mudflow with a volume of more than 500 thousand cubic meters of water descended into the gorge of the Adyl-Su River. It dragged down giant stones and destroyed three bridges in the Baksan Gorge. The entire tourist area at the foot of Mount Elbrus was cut off from the outside world.

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Lake Gizhgit (Baksan gorge)

Lake Gizhgit is located on the western side of the Baksan Gorge at an altitude of 2160 meters. The road to it begins behind the village of Bylym, so it is also called Bylym Lake. The rugged coastline of the lake stretches among beautiful layered mountains, reminiscent of the landscapes of American canyons.

Lake Gizhgit in Soviet times was a reservoir where waste from the Molybdenum mine was drained. It was the largest production in the USSR for the extraction of tungsten and molybdenum, very important metals for the defense industry. The plant operated from 1940 to 2001. More than 20 years have passed since the plant was closed. Only ruins remained of the industrial workshops, and Lake Gizhgit turned into a natural attraction. Some experts suggest that its waters may still contain dangerous chemical elements, but locals believe that since trout live in the lake, its waters have cleared and now do not pose a danger.  

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Living Lake (Adyr-Su Gorge)

The Living Lake is located in the gorge of the Kullumkol River at an altitude of 3240 m above sea level. A small lake with emerald-colored water is sandwiched between the moraines of two glaciers. Followers of esoteric teachings believe that bathing in it gives a person strength and fills with energy. In their opinion, the Living Lake is a Place of Power not only of the Elbrus National Park, but also of the entire Caucasus. 

The hike to the Living Lake is the second most popular route after the Glade of Desires at the foot of Ullu-Tau Mountain. People come to the Glade of Desires to ask Mother-Mountain for the fulfillment of their innermost desires, and they swim in a Living Lake to receive the energy of the Universe. The Living Lake and the Dead Lake are located in the upper reaches of the Kullumkol River gorge. People who believe in the power and energy of these lakes believe that first you need to swim in a Dead Lake, which will take away all negative energy from a person, and then climb to a Living Lake and plunge into its waters to get new energy of the Universe.

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Turquoise lakes (Caucasian Nature Reserve)

Turquoise lakes are located in the high valleys of Chilipsi mount’s slope in the Caucasus nature Reserve. The height of the mountain reaches 3097 meters. The highest of the Turquoise lakes is located at an altitude of 2538 meters, but there are no Hiking trails to this lake. Only Turquoise lakes located at the source of the Pure river are open to the public. They are located at an altitude of 2100 meters. In Sunny weather, the water of the lakes really has a characteristic turquoise hue.

They are surrounded by the rocky ridges of mount Chilipsi. Picturesque stone blocks are scattered around the lakes.
Two paths lead to the Turquoise lakes from the tourist Camp area on the Pure river. The main one is that after the wooden house of the huntsmen goes to the right along the mountain slope. The second trail goes straight along the Pure riverbed, but it has a rather difficult section when you need to climb over rocks up a steep slope. However, after that, the view of the Pure river valley is worth the effort. You will be located on the slope of mount Chilipsi. Here you can see the peaks of Needle Main, Needle South and Rocky West.

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Trout Lake (Dombai)

The Trout Lake is the only place in Dombai you can easily get by car, and the water of this lake is warmed up to 20°. It is rather cool, but quite comfortable for bathing. The Trout Lake is at the altitude of 1850 meters; it is 275 meters long and 120 meters wide. The average depth of the lake is some 4 meters. There are trout in the lake, but fishing is prohibited, as the Trout Lake is located in the nature reserve. In summer, there are always a lot of bathing and sunbathing tourists here.

Having left Dombai you should go to the «Northern Shelter» signpost – the entrance to the Gonachhir Gorge. It is the border (check-point) of the Teberda National Park. Sukhumi Military Road runs along the Gonachhir Gorge. The road was built in 1947 and provided for a through route from the Stavropol Territory and through Kluhor Pass (2781 meters) to Abkhazia. After the war conflict with Georgia in 1992, the road was closed. The border check-point is beyond the Trout Lake, so everyone can go there to have a dip in its clean waters and spend his/her time in the most beautiful mountain valley.

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Baduki lakes (Dombai)

In all tourist guides a tour to the Baduki lakes is rated as one of the most interesting. The path to the Baduk lakes is quite suitable even for the untrained tourists. It is 9 kilometers long. It begins at the suspension bridge over Amnauz River.

The climb on the route is more than 500 meters. For the first 4 kilometers the path runs though a relic fur forest. Near the first lake the most beautiful stretch of the path at last begins, – the one it is worth going to Baduki lakes for – the valley between Baduk and Khadjibey mountain ranges. The path is winding among the boulders, surviving from the Ice Age. All of them are covered with mosses; the dwarf trees grow among the boulders. If you go to Baduk lakes on a hot summer day, you may want to have a dip in the first lake. But you shouldn’t do it as the lake water temperature is generally about 5°. You can swim only in the third Baduki lake where the water is heated up to 10° in the hot summer days, and you can plunge in the water there.

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Lake Sukko (Anapa)

Lake Sukko is located 6 kilometers from the beach of the Sukko resort. Tourists come here from all the surrounding resorts, as swamp cypresses unique to the Caucasian coast grow here. Thanks to them, the lake is often called Cypress Lake. All the necessary infrastructure for recreation has been created on Lake Sukko. Most tourists come here to see the cypresses. There are boat and catamaran rental points on the lake. 

Lake Sukko is an artificial reservoir created in the 1930s, in a small mountain valley. Together with the creation of Lake Sukko, they planted 32 swamp cypresses in the northern part of the reservoir. Now the age of these trees reaches almost a hundred years. Cypresses are widely distributed in the Caucasus and Crimea. However, swamp cypresses do not grow in Russia. Their homeland is the subtropical states of North America. The lower part of the swamp cypress trunks is submerged in water, but they do not rot due to the release of a huge amount of essential oils from the trunk and bark.

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