Taganay National Park

Taganay is a set of parallel ridges running north from Zlatoust, rising to 1,178 metres at Kruglitsa - low, but high enough at this latitude to put the tops above the tree line into tundra and bare rock. The park's signature is the Bolshaya Kamennaya Reka, the Great Stone River: a six-kilometre band of loose quartzite blocks up to several metres across, filling a valley floor with no soil or trees, formed by frost shattering the ridge above and the blocks creeping downhill over thousands of years. Water runs audibly underneath it. Other features are the Otkliknoy Greben, a serrated rock crest that returns an echo, the Dvuglavaya Sopka, and the mountain tundra on Kruglitsa. Marked trails run the length of the park with shelters, and it is the most walked mountain area in the Southern Urals, close enough to Zlatoust to start from a bus stop.

What you actually see

• The Stone River - six kilometres of loose quartzite blocks with water running below.
• Otkliknoy Greben - a serrated crest that returns an echo across the valley.
• The mountain tundra - bare ground above the tree line on the higher summits.
• The trail network - marked routes with shelters, starting from the edge of Zlatoust.

When to go

June to September for walking; February and March for skiing. Two days to a week. Permits and shelter bookings through the park office.

Honest expectations

Weather on the ridges changes fast and fog is common. The Stone River is genuinely dangerous to cross - the blocks shift and legs get broken there every season. Shelters are basic and book out at weekends. Ticks carrying encephalitis from April to July.

Nearby

Zlatoust and its steel engraving workshops are below; Zyuratkul is south.